Oklahoma Woman Dedicated To Returning Photos To Tornado Survivors

Cleaning up after an Oklahoma storm led to a local woman's new mission.

She helped out in Moore after the E-5 tornado ripped through, devastating much of the Oklahoma City suburb. Now, she wants to reunite owners with the family photos she found in the debris.

Brooke Porter just moved to Broken Arrow and didn't know enough people here to spread the word about the photos. So, she called us.

"A picture represents a piece of life and it reminds us about our past," she said.

Porter picked up all these personal pieces of Moore when her church group went to help clean up after the May twister. In the calm after the chaos, she came across so many tangible memories.

5/20/2013 Related Story: Reconnecting Oklahoma Tornado Victims With Their Lost Photos

"I was just overcome with emotion and I saw this piece of paper face down and I thought, 'Oh, please be a picture,' and I flipped it over and it was two young boys with their dog, and I thought, 'Their mom wants this picture,'" Porter said.

She wondered how many more moms and dads and grandparents wanted their pictures back, too.

"Nobody had really thought about the returning of the pictures and I said, 'Can I? Can I volunteer myself? I would love to take these pictures home,'" Porter said.

She said she has the time and equipment to scan all 300 photos and she'll post them on Facebook to reach families.

"I'm expecting our first child and I thought, if I lost those pictures of our baby, I would just be devastated," Porter said.

Besides just photos, Porter also has an entire photo album, two Kodak reels, a passport and a golden locket showing two beaming boys.

She said she can't wait for the first photo reunion.

"I hope that they just have a little bit of home, that they can experience a little bit of joy, a tender mercy. I think that there are miracles all over the place if we just look for them."

Porter has created a Facebook page called Moore Oklahoma Tornado: Pictures Found.

She's also connecting with other Facebook pages dedicated to Oklahoma storm photos.