Published: April 04, 2008 04:36 pm            

Rebuilding folks’ lives

Family thankful for help after storm

WATONGA — Despite what he’s been through, businessman Terry McGraw admits he’s better off now than he was before the remnants of a tropical storm blew apart his home, his business and scattered his possessions to the wind.

“To be real honest with you, God has done just incredible stuff for us after that storm,” he said. “The community just came to our aid immediately.”

During the Aug. 19, 2007, storm, McGraw’s mobile home on the east side of Watonga was blown apart in the middle of the night.

According to McGraw’s account printed in The Watonga Republican:

“The whole mobile started to tip westward, ripped off its foundation. My wife and I wrapped ourselves around our son and held on to each other, expecting we were about to die. In an instant we found ourselves on the ground in a pile of rubble, 80 feet to the west, still holding on to each other, and taking a personal pounding from the same fury Mother Nature had used to rip our home to shreds in mere seconds.”

Eight months later, McGraw summarizes the terrifying night with increased brevity: “It was a weird ride.”

McGraw, and his wife Kay, suffered some injuries after literally being “blown” out of their home. His son Daniel, although uninjured, was still traumatized by the event, McGraw said.

Heavily bandaged due to a laceration on his scalp, McGraw said his son worried when he laid eyes on him.

“He thought I was going to die,” he said.

Despite the ordeal, Kay still had encouragement for Terry.

“While we were in the ER, Kay looked at me and said, “I’m glad we moved here.’”

As well as losing his home to the storm, McGraw said it took about 30 percent of the storage units he owns and operates. Since the storm, McGraw has bought several more storage buildings and moved his office downtown.

During the past months, McGraw has been able to navigate the bureaucracy of aid available to him and his family after the storms. He is now well-versed in disaster finance protocol and thanks those who helped him to recover.

“I’ve got absolutely nothing to be upset or angry about,” he said. “There was not anytime, ever, that we lacked what we needed.”

Since the storm, McGraw has purchased more storage buildings and plans to rebuild some lost in the storm. He said this month, he and his family purchased the home they’d been renting since September.

“We’ve replaced everything we’ve lost, plus some,” he said. “My income in Watonga is within a few hundred dollars of what it was before.

“We are just far, far better off than we were before the storm hit.”

McGraw estimates his storage units in Watonga are about 96 percent full and his business about back on track.

“We’re just in the last 30 days or so getting our lives back to the McGraw version of normal,” he said.

While he’s happy with the situation at present, McGraw said he could live without another storm like the one in August.

“I would not want to go through that again.”