Two Caddo Parish sheriff’s deputies are on their way home tonight after providing law enforcement relief in tornado-stricken Moore, OK.

Immediately after the tornado hit on Monday, Caddo Sheriff Steve Prator dispatched Lt. Jay Long and Sgt. John May to provide any assistance needed by Oklahoma law enforcement.

“They weren’t requested, but we knew they could help if they showed up ready to work,” Prator said.

And he was right. The deputies arrived in Moore at 3:15 a.m. on Tuesday after a six-hour drive. They immediately went to work providing traffic control and blocking an intersection on the northeast side of the storm damage. They were relieved at 10:30 a.m. for a short period of rest before being assigned at 1 p.m. to the perimeter, limiting traffic entering the affected area to emergency crews and utility workers.

At 7 a.m. this morning, Long and May were assigned to restrict access into the heart of the city. They shared duties until late this afternoon with an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper, the chief of the Blanchard, OK, Police Department, and a Blanchard police officer.  

Long and May said they worked long hours with no relief, encountered national media, constantly changing weather conditions, and residents who are still trying to come to terms with the disaster in their city.

“It was as bad as what you see on TV,” Long said of the devastation. “We were recognized as not being from the area, and people stopped immediately and thanked us for helping. People would give us food and hold water out of their car windows just to say thanks. There was certainly a feeling that we were appreciated by both law enforcement and the citizens who live there.”