When he ran the Wal-Mart store in Tulsa, Adam Stutzman had a 45-minute commute to and from home. After they moved to Moore to take over the Neighborhood Market there eight years ago, he made sure to get a house close enough that he could go home for lunch with Susan and the kids.
After lunch Monday, the Stutzmans decided to check 13-year-old Alyssa out of school early so they could all go to an assembly at North Moore Elementary. Coleton, 10, had gotten straight As and was receiving a superintendent's award certificate.
By the time the ceremony ended around 2:30, Moore was already on high alert. Knowing his family would be safe in the shelter they'd installed beneath their garage three years ago, Stutzman decided to head over to the store on SE 4th Street to make things were all right.
A group of roofers was already there, fixing leaks from a storm system the day before. Susan knew there was no use in arguing with the company man.
The 35-year-old store manager wasn't there 15 minutes before the sirens began blaring.
Stutzman and his "associates" are a well-oiled machine. Without waiting for instructions, they began ushering customers to the meat room behind the deli — about 65 people altogether. The temperature in the room is kept just below 41 degrees Fahrenheit, and Stutzman's staff distributed white butcher smocks to help keep the refugees warm.
They left the store's front doors open, in case anyone else might need to seek shelter. As he stood in the doorway, Stutzman watched as an old man unplugged an electric scooter, climbed aboard and rolled up the bread aisle toward him. Almost as soon as the man was safely inside, the storm was upon them.
Standing watch, Stutzman could hear the skylights popping and see ceiling tiles lifting up from the storm's suction — but, surprisingly, when the storm was over there was limited damage.
Outside, it was a scene of devastation. The Church of God out back was half collapsed, and nearly an entire neighborhood was gone, home alarms beeping out of synch in an eerie half-harmony.
"It was just so mind-blowing, how lucky we got," he said Thursday. "It could have been us in the rubble."
Back home, Susan Stutzman had been listening to the news and feared that the store had been hit. It was about an hour before her husband could get word to his family that he was OK.
She knows he'll make the same decision again.
