Surrounded by a huge pile of rubble stands a concrete-encasedvault that protected the lives of 14 employees and eight memberswho were at a Tinker Federal Credit Union branch Monday afternoonwhen a monstrous tornado ripped through the city of Moore,Okla.

They huddled together in the vault while the violent tornado wasobliterating everything around them, including the6,387-square-foot branch and the cars in the parking lot.

“I wasn't there, but I know it was extremely loud (inside thevault) and I'm sure it was very scary,” Matt Stratton, vicepresident of marketing for the $3 billion TFCU, said Tuesdayafternoon. “I don't know yet if the branch was directly in the pathof the tornado or on the edge of the path of tornado, but itessentially destroyed the branch and a lot of things aroundit.”

After the tornado passed, Stratton said first responders arrived“very quickly” at the scene, removed debris that was blocking thevault's door and helped the people inside the vault push open thedoor.

The employees and members who had their cars destroyed by thetornado eventually found their way home, Stratton said. But thebranch manager stayed at the vault until it could be locked up andsecured.

(Click on photo above to see enlarged version.)

The safe deposit boxes in the vault are safe and locked up, andit is under 24/7 security watch,” said Stratton. “We will figureout a way to get members access to their safe deposit boxes, butaccess to the location is limited right now.”

Once access to the site is allowed by authorities, Strattonsaid, there will an extensive cleanup process and he expects TFCUwill build a new branch at the site.

“I feel certain we will build a new branch there,” Strattonsaid. “It's been a very successful location for us, a very popularbranch amongst our members.”

Stratton said the tornado also destroyed the homes of four TFCUemployees, and an additional 26 employees reported some damage totheir homes.

“We'll be working with those employees over the next few daysand weeks,” he said.

Other nearby credit unions – a branch of the $892 million WeokieCredit Union and a branch of the $106 million Oklahoma EducatorsCredit Union – were farther away from the path of tornado andavoided the major damage. A Credit Union Services Center sharedbranching office nearby also was not damaged by the tornado.

Two dozen people have been confirmed killed in the tornado,which has been declared an EF5 – the top of the scale – by theNational Weather Service and did at least $1 billion in damage onits 17-mile path, Oklahoma insurance officials said

Also from Oklahoma Tornado:

• Loans to Offer Shelter From the Storms
• Ohio, Kansas, California Joins in ReliefEffort
• Pen Air FCU Starts ReliefCollections
• Redstone Collecting Donations inAlabama
• Manager Tells Tale of Tinker Safe Survival(video)
• Leagues Chip In, Life-Saving Vault StillInaccessible
• CUNA Mutual Contacts 57 CUs
• NCUA Activates Relief Policy
• Weokie Staff Also Retreated toVault
• CUNA Mutual Sending DisasterTeam
• League, NCUF Assessing Impact
• Tinker Staffers Survive in Safe