Local Volunteer in Moore: '6 Months Ago, This Was Us'

It is a familiar feeling that many of us get when we see hurt and destruction happening to those around us, the need to help, to do something. When disaster struck in Oklahoma, one Smithtown resident was on the ground just a short time later, with outstretched hand to those in need.

Craig Cooper, a freelance video and event producer from Smithtown, is also a volunteer with the American Red Cross. For Cooper, Hurricane Katrina was his call to action.

“I became a volunteer after Katrina. One of the things we see very often after a major disaster is that the initial outpouring is immense,” said Cooper. “I said, I’ve got to do something, I can’t not do anything.”

A volunteer for six years, Cooper’s first mission was to Texas after Hurricane Ike. Now a national spokesperson for the American Red Cross, Cooper said he was trained to do anything.

“For Ike, I was working in a huge outdoor kitchen, working with Southern Baptists, scooping string beans for meals to be taken out into the neighborhoods.”

He arrived in Moore two days ago, where a rare EF5 tornado tore through the town on Tuesday, and said he saw entire blocks where homes were leveled. Cooper, who was part of the 1,000 plus volunteer Red Cross effort after Hurricane Sandy, compared the damage done by the storms.

“The devastation in those (Long Island) shore communities, you had this wave and wall of water, it was very sad to see, but in most cases you could find the house. It might have been off the foundation, but in many cases there was a house,” said Cooper. “The devastation that comes with a tornado is so complete. There are areas where homes were and now there is nothing but the foundation, no wood, no windows, no furniture, just gone.”

He, like others, used the term war zone and described the destruction as not like anything he has seen in other places, “like a bunch of toys had been thrown into the air.”

“It is scary, metal guard rails that have been bent around trees or poles and you have to try to envision the force that did this, that bent it like a paperclip.”

Cooper has been out, talking to the people of Moore, as they rake debris and gather what’s left of belongings from their homes.

“People talk about the strength and resolve of people in this part of the country, some are shell-shocked. Others have a tough exterior and say we will get through. They are very spiritual and say I am alive, I can rebuild. They are amazing people.”

Cooper, who is married and has a nine-year-old daughter in Smithtown Elementary, said he is able to pick up and go through the support of his family and clients.

“I have their one-hundred and ten-percent support. The Red Cross is a system that I believe works really well, one that I am very proud of,” said Cooper. “I wouldn’t leave my family if I didn’t believe in what we are doing.”

His resolve strengthened by the outpouring of help he saw to Long Islanders after Hurricane Sandy, Cooper gratefully wishes to repay the deed.

“Six months ago, this was us,” Cooper said of the damage done to by Sandy.
“People from Oklahoma were on Long Island helping us. Now the shoe is on the other foot. It is my opportunity to support the people here in Oklahoma.”