MOORE, Oklahoma – With so much debris still littering the streets of Moore, police are being careful who they let back into some of the hardest hit neighborhoods of Oklahoma.
On Tuesday, many finally returned home, only to find heartbreak and devastation after a tornado ripped through the town.
Pam Dennis and her family escaped the tornado with only minutes to spare.
"We had the clothes on our back, that's it. So we came back for clothes and to find my dad," she said.
Dennis and her family came back to their ravaged home to find her father's ashes. It was something irreplaceable and sacred to them that they thought had been lost to the fury of Mother Nature. Somehow the family was able pluck their father's urn from the debris and carefully wrap it in blankets.
The Moore resident said she didn't expect to find the urn. "My mom really wanted my dad back," she said.
But the woman's happiness was short-lived, overshadowed by an uncertain future.
"We stayed at a motel last night but we don't know where we're going to go," she said.
Dennis is not alone. Early Tuesday morning, Mark Ellerd stood in the front yard of his home. On Monday during the storm, he clutched his dog and watched from a closet as the tornado ripped his house apart.
"I've lost everything basically, but I'm alive and my family is all safe so that's the most important thing. It's all replaceable," said Ellerd.
The families that Local 2 spoke with said police were allowing them back into their neighborhoods only to collect some clothes. After more debris is cleared and search and rescue teams complete their work, then the families will be allowed to go back and try to salvage whatever else they can.