Air Force Medic Says Oklahoma Helped Her Cope With Losing Home To Tornado

An Oklahoma woman who lost her home in the May tornado that touched down in Moore is home after serving her country overseas.

Senior Airman and flight medic Tiffany Moore said when she found out the tornado hit her home she chose to stay deployed in Afghanistan because keeping soldiers alive on the battlefield was more important than the materialistic things that were destroyed in the tornado.

For the first time in more than four months, Moore is sitting down with family and friends.

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She was deployed to Afghanistan last spring with the U.S. Air Force.

"All I heard was a really big tornado came through, and all my stuff was gone," tornado victim Tiffany Moore said.

While she was deployed, a large tornado was on the ground in her hometown of Moore.

"It's the last thing that you expect to happen while you're gone. I mean, it really is," she said. "You're expecting everything to happen while you're over there and then you kind of get a bomb dropped on you at home."

Her daughter Payton wasn't in Moore the day the tornado hit, she was already staying with her grandmother in Tulsa.

Family and friends chipped in on the rebuilding effort while Tiffany was away.

"We're just thankful for all of the donations and the prayers from everybody in the community that helped out," Becky Rodriguez said.

Becky Rodriguez is a close friend from Tulsa.

They held a fundraiser this summer to help Tiffany get back on her feet.

Tiffany returned to Oklahoma a week ago.

But she's back in Moore, now focused on moving into the new home she just bought.

"Everyone is rebuilding and everyone has a strong heart," Moore said.

She is also looking forward to spending some much-needed time off with her daughter.

Tiffany said she'll always remember the help she received while she was helping others.

"That's one thing I can honestly say about Oklahoma is that they'll always be there for you," Moore said.