SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - We're hearing from a San Diego man who now lives near where the tornado touched down.
News 8's Shannon Handy spoke with him about the scene in Oklahoma Monday afternoon.
Pj Gaske was born and raised in San Diego. He still has family here, but moved to Oklahoma about seven years ago.
Fortunately he's okay but listen as he describes Monday's ordeal and what people there are doing to help.
"It's a tragedy. It is."
San Diego native PJ Gaske works just two miles from Moore, Oklahoma, where a massive tornado touched down Monday, destroying nearly everything in its path.
He said, "I got caught in a pretty good rain storm, pretty good hail storm, ran into pretty much a parking lot along the parkway."
PJ left work early. He took pictures as he sat in that traffic, trying, like everyone else, to make it home safely.
"When I left work, you could see circulating clouds. It was almost an eerie calmness of not a lot of noise, but a lot of people trying to get to a lot of different places."
PJ has been getting continuous updates from local media outlets, including the tragic news that of the dozens who have died so far, at least 20 are children from one of the local schools.
"The thing that gives people comfort is hearing that teachers threw themselves on top of children."
PJ says the outpouring of support has already begun. A process that will no doubt continue in the days, months and years to come.
"The community is rallying around them. There's a lot of people donating food, money, anything we can help."
Pj has children of his own. News 8 asked him why kids were even in school Monday.
He says while they have been getting tornado warnings no one can predict exactly where that tornado will touch ground.
Pj also tells News 8, tornado sirens have been going off over the past couple of days to warn residents about the potential storm danger.