We might be far from tornado country in Washington state, but that’s not keeping a Seattle City Light employee from offering a safety-gloved helping hand.
City Light’s Greg Carlson in Oklahoma.
We might be far from tornado country in Washington state, but that’s not keeping a Seattle City Light employee from offering a safety-gloved helping hand.
Greg Carlson, a City Light field operations supervisor, is currently in Moore, Okla., helping to clean up the damage caused a mega-tornado that devastated the region on May 20. The tornado killed 23 people and injured 377.
Carlson and other volunteers are cutting trees and removing debris from playgrounds, businesses, and other structures.
“There is heavy damage to homes as well as the hospital and a large bowling alley,” Carlson wrote to co-workers during a break in his work. “Yesterday we were at the 7-11 site where four people were killed.”
Greg has experience with this type of work. He volunteered in 2012 to assist the people of West Liberty, Ky., a community that was also largely destroyed by a tornado.
Since 1992, Greg has saved up and used his vacation time to help people in need, using his construction skills to fix houses, build shelters, dig wells and anything else that needs a skilled hand.
Greg has volunteered in 20 different countries and all over the U.S. He and his fellow volunteers pay for their own travel and bring their own tools and equipment.
In Oklahoma, Greg and his team came equipped with 14 chainsaws and other tools for clearing trees, lumber, and blocks.