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.”