Westmoore Coach Remembers Deadly May 3, 1999 Tornadoes

By Gan Matthews, NEWS 9

MOORE, Oklahoma -- Chris Stiles was the football coach at Westmoore High School when the deadly May 1999 tornado roared through Moore.

He and his family were taking refuge in their bathroom when a neighbor called and suggested they would be safer if they sought shelter at the high school field house. Stiles agreed.

"The only reason I did that, it wasn't a decisive decision, it was just cause my son had been so upset. And I thought ‘Hey, taking some action might calm him--things--down a little bit.' So we left and went down to the football field house and put football helmets on," Stiles said.

Stiles, his family, and his neighbors rode out the tornado inside the field house. When they returned to their neighborhood, they found their home had been destroyed. It took six months to rebuild, and Stiles found himself looking at life differently, especially knowing his family probably wouldn't have survived without that split-second decision.

"The truth of the matter is, you know, it just made me readjust my priorities in life and understand the importance of my family, you know, understand the importance that God has a hand in my life, and I always say that that call was a call from God," Stiles said.

Chris Stiles now works as a development official for Mount Saint Mary's Catholic High School.