14 DAY TRIAL // A man from Moore, Oklahoma, where 91 people died when the small town was hit by a tornado, has given an interview recounting his experience hiding out during the deadly phenomenon.
Lando Hite tells KFOR how he worked and lived on a farm in Moore. He was a caretaker who saw the stalls and his home get blown to pieces and the horses he was looking after dying.
“Everybody else was either gone for the day or stayed over in a different barn but I stay with these horses all the time, I'm an exercise rider and I'm also the caretaker for Mark Lee,” he says.
He managed to survive by staying inside, in the stalls but the first thing on his mind once seeing the tornado getting closer was saving the animals.
“It was all windy and stuff before the tornado came. I came outside to see and I see debris flying that way so I thought I had a little while.
“I tried to get some of the horses loose and free so they'd have a chance,” he adds.
Once he got in a stall, it crashed on top of him but the structure did protect him until the twister passed.
“I didn't have very long at all so I jumped in one of those stalls, at least that's what these here used to be and they collapsed over on top of me,” Hite describes.
He remembers seeing debris everywhere and hearing the deafening roar of the tornado, which we have also documented with a video shot at the scene.
“It was just unbearably loud and you could see stuff flying everywhere just like in the movie Twister,” Hite recalls.
One worker at the barn is still missing after the violent windstorm hit the town, practically leveling anything in its path.
“I was just me as far as I know, I was the only one over here in this barn. So far there seems to be one person unaccounted for in this barn,” Hite details.