In McAlester, Oklahoma, a team comprising incarcerated individuals helped to facilitate the exit of a woman and her three children from their rural home after a tornado devastated the area, as reported by state authorities. The Oklahoma Department of Corrections noted that the crew diligently labored on Friday, continuing the work they began earlier in the week. On Tuesday, they successfully cleared a passageway blocked by toppled trees, enabling the family living in Blanco to leave their residence following the storm’s destructive passage.
The severe weather wreaked havoc on May 19, with approximately twelve tornadoes hitting the state, causing widespread chaos and disruption. The assistance from the incarcerated crew was acknowledged by J.B. Sharp, a Pittsburg County road foreman, as being invaluable to the overall recovery efforts.
Margaret Green, the warden at the Mack Alford Correctional Center, took proactive steps when she learned through social media that county workers required additional support. She organized a group of nearly twelve incarcerated men, all from minimum-security conditions, who volunteered to assist in the cleanup campaign. This team, only comprising those who satisfied particular security and conduct criteria, has been working tirelessly for almost a week.
Reflecting on the initiative, Green expressed that both she and the volunteers viewed this as an opportunity to give back to the community in a meaningful way. “The inmates felt the same way. It’s an army of orange,” she remarked, acknowledging the collective sense of duty and community responsibility shared by everyone involved.