Oklahoma City Tornado: Wayne Cohen Of Flaming Lips Speaks Out On Tragedy

Oklahoma is still reeling from the tornadoes that tore across the state earlier this week.  The Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne (who is an Oklahoma City native) penned an article about the events for The Daily Beast. Below are a few highlights:

On Learning About The Oklahoma City Tornado:

"My phone was lying there on the bed and I started getting hundreds of texts...In fact, the top news story over here in London was the Oklahoma City tornado. Reports said up to 75 people were dead because of a storm-and I say storm because all the other top news stories from around the world involved a lot of people dead, but from bombs and people hating each other. The only slight comfort is that these were just good people trying to go to school and go to work, and the universe comes down on them. All the other news stories were this horrible but petty man-versus-man thing. Even though the city suffered a tragedy, I'm still standing tall and thinking, "Yeah. That's our people."

On His Connection To Moore, Okla.:

"My sister lives in Moore, close enough to Plaza Towers Elementary School to think, "Oh my god, there's kids just down the road from me who are trapped in there... I live in Oklahoma City and Plaza Towers Elementary School is in Moore, so it's close. I know where the damage is. It's on the highway between Oklahoma City and Norman, Oklahoma, which we go to a lot-Moore is right in between there. You look over there, and things that you've seen for years are now just a pile of rubble.Some of my really good friends also grew up in Moore."

On the Outpouring Of Support After The Tornadoes:

"I think the people of Oklahoma City are resilient, but I think it always happens in communities-people have the desire to help. They have a sense that even though you may not know each other, we're all one. I saw this happen in Boston, too, because I have friends there. If you're even a person sitting at home, you're compelled to do something. People forget that you could donate $10 to the Red Cross, and that's all you need to do. If you could do that, that's a beautiful way to help."

A Final Takeaway:

"But we can always help each other, and it shouldn't always take a tragedy to make us realize this. If you can't help the people of Moore, see how the people on your street are doing."

Really, the whole article is worth a once or twice-over. Check it out at The Daily Beast.