Mayfield, seven months after tornado

[RSKY]

Hopefully this will be my last update on the tornado aftermath. It has been delayed because of other events. 1) Old PC crashed and I let daughter talk me into getting an iMac. So far so good but it has taken a little while to get used to. 2) Getting my mother's place ready to auction next Saturday, July 9th. Lordy, that woman hadn't thrown anything away in thirty years.

Anyway.

Wife and the local Homemakers Club are taking meals to people who have moved into new homes after losing theirs in the tornado. She has delivered about eight and I went with her for the last three. It was interesting to say the least.

First delivery was a lady who screamed in her basement as the winds threw a very large tree, with root ball still attached, thru her house from one end to the other. All that was left was the front and back walls, and the basement. Her new three bedroom house was built by the Mennonites with money furnished by Homes and Hopes for Kentucky. She was moving in the day we delivered the frozen meal and there was a Lutheran church group from Wisconsin "helping" her. By helping I mean they weren't letting her do anything. Teenagers were assembling furniture and carrying stuff into the house. Adults were supervising and helping. The lady works full time as manager of a local store but was not financially able to rebuild. Her destroyed older house was apparently not worth much insurance money. She teared up showing us the large bed some Amish had built "on the spot" when they delivered mattresses.

Second delivery was a short walk away to a couple that also had an older home destroyed to the foundation. We didn't go in because the lady works nights staying with elderly and was asleep inside. The older man also worked, "coming out of retirement", to drive the Amish around to wherever they were working, to get supplies, etc.. It was also built by the Mennonites. The man said he had been a contractor at one time and was amazed at the amount of support and bracing the frame of the house had. Said the Mennonites told him it was engineered to withstand 160-mph winds. Workmanship on those two houses was nothing short of amazing.

Third house was a girl and her six year old daughter. Girl might have weighed 100-lb soaking wet. This was a Tiny House and it was tiny. Five have been set up in the back yard of a local church next to a trailer park. Girl and daughter had been in an apartment and "huddled together in the hallway" as the building was torn apart around them. House has two bedrooms. One very small and the other couldn't hold anything but a twin bed or bunk beds. A living room with enough room for a couch and one chair. A kitchen with a bar to eat at. And a bathroom with a shower so small I don't know if I could use it. She had been staying at the 'lakes' in a motel room with her daughter. Said it was bad, more on that in a minute. And she was glad to be out of that. There is no washer/dryer in the house. I don't know where they would put it is somebody gave them one. This girl travels around the local area doing something in the medical field.

Okay, now then, my take on everything that has happened. If I donate anything to any group or organization from now on it will NOT be to a national organization like Red Cross or United Way. Heat index was over 100F here today and volunteers from Samaritan's Purse were working on a house foundation when we drove by. Must have been 15-20 people out there WORKING in the heat. MOST of the work being done is by religious charities. The 'Mennonite Disaster Relief' groups have been everywhere. The Amish even have a mule team and wagon hauling supplies. There are Baptist groups, Lutheran groups, Catholic groups, Methodist groups, Church of Christ groups, and more than I can list working around the area. And you wouldn't know it if you didn't notice a small sign in the yard of a newly built house.

Heck, Wal-Mart and Lowes have done more than some of the big name charities. Wally World still has a free laundry set up for people who need it.

I did not intend to start a rant here but it still bothers me that so many charities seem to do nothing but ask for donations.

Also the people getting these houses and help from these groups all seem to have jobs and are trying to work as they rebuild their lives. BUT there is a small but loud minority who are complaining all the time. These seem to be from some of the lower rent housing that was destroyed. They have never worked, wouldn't work if you gave them a job, and probably have it better now than they have ever had it in their lives. They have been given a lot of free stuff and expect more. Okay, had to stop a minute and get my temper under control. Was thinking about the girl with the six year old in the tiny house traveling two hours to start a twelve hour overnight shift and the guy complaining of Facebook complaining that nobody would bring him free cigarettes. Some people deserve all the help we can give them. Others.......

Please read my next post on insurance.

RSKY

 

[Jstpssng]

^^^^^
SHEE-IT! considering all of the negative things I read on a daily basis it's really nice to hear that your community and others are pulling together and rebuild. Thank you for the update.

 

[dodge man]

Nice story, thanks for posting it. It’s nice to hear the good side of things along with the bad. I’m not surprised about the negatives, some people will sink as low as possible.

Im curious if you got an impression of the Salvation Army in this disaster? I’ve always had a favorable impression of them.

 

[Birdhunter1]

From a person that did organize and haul relief supplies down froma mere 80 miles to the north of you, I can say local bars and taverns were doing collections themselves and making weekly hauls down that way just as much as every church and some service organizations in our town. The ELKS n our town hauled several loads of stuff down. I will say of some of the service groups that didn't collect and haul I know alot of those same people were working through their churches to participate so I can't fault them. I agree the big names orgs are usually more involved at the top level of the admin side where they pat themselves on the back and maybe assist the governing authorities more than the people.

On another note, when we went to Mayfield I had a case of some sort of batteries for first responder search lights. They were some sort of specialized item that are fairly common on fire and search teams. I handed them and a charging system to a fireman and he asked where I got them and how? The one thing they majorly needed I was able to bring, and apparently it was not a cheap item. We had a fine gentleman and his wife donate them in our town. From what I saw of people at the Mayfield fair grounds and around town, most people didn't have a name on their vehicles or trailers, most people were groups and people like us, very few were 'credit seekers.' Another thing I saw, and am happy for, was that it was Americans helping Americans simply for no other reason than the people in your area were in need, it was nice to see that.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Thanks for the update

 

[Alan W.]

Agree whole heartily with you on what the so called big charities actually do.
My wife works for a charity organization and yes they had employees and volunteers there and those same had been calling the day of the tornados wanting to get mobilized as soon as possible.
Have heard the same complaints about the able bodied people in low income areas not lifting a finger to help.
You would not believe the amount of tools and materials they lose to theft while responding.
Some of the victims have suffered twice.
Saw this on the local news the other night.

Family loses home in fire amid tornado rebuild: ‘Don’t know if we can do it again’

A Kentucky family is looking at another tough decision after losing their home in a tornado and now in a fire over the last few months.

www.wkyt.com

Gotta be hard to endure.

 

[WM75Guy]

When you see a story about the Red Cross feeding people it is a little skewed. While the Red Cross still has local volunteers that respond to provide assistance at fires and such providing blankets and vouchers for food, clothing, and shelter, their response capabilities have changed. They still have small canteen trucks at the local chapter level. While the Red Cross may hand it out, they no longer prepare food for mass feedings. That is handled by organizations with mass feeding kitchens like the Texas Baptist Men. Red Cross may pay for the food but not always, it may come from local, state, or federal government resources. The food is delivered in large insulated containers to the distribution site, where it is put in individual serving containers. Then the Red Cross gets their photo op handing it out to the victims.

Disaster Relief

Texas Baptist Men delivers help, hope and healing through disaster relief and water ministry around the world and raises up the next generation to do likewise. Through mass feeding, chainsaw teams, rebuilding efforts, water wells, community water systems and water filters, we have provided the...

www.tbmtx.org

 

[RSKY]

Nice story, thanks for posting it. It’s nice to hear the good side of things along with the bad. I’m not surprised about the negatives, some people will sink as low as possible.

Im curious if you got an impression of the Salvation Army in this disaster? I’ve always had a favorable impression of them.

Salvation Army has always been a favorite charity of mine too. BUT, I have not seen them in Mayfield. I think they deal with a different type of need.

 

[dodge man]

Thanks for the answer RSKY.

 

[dmccarty]

My experience with disasters mirrors RSKY's.

After Hurricane Floyd flooded many areas of Eastern NC, I was part of a group that went into the area after the flood waters started to recede for rescue and recovery along with dealing with looters. Thankfully, none of this was needed.

The devastation really is difficult to describe. We only saw two houses were shattered by the floods but we saw thousands of homes that were destroyed. The water, except in those two cases, slowly rose and then slowly receded so there was not structural destruction but the homes were no longer habitable and if the home was a trailer, it was condemned and destroyed.

In one town, the water had just peaked and was receding. There was a man, whom I guess would have been in his 70s or 80s, sitting on the front steps of his home. To say he was shell shocked is an understatement. He house and business were next to one of the flood shattered houses. He a small store that was selling a variety of hardware type of goods and coal. Twas good hard coal too. The flood water had covered the area with his coal.

Most people were gone this section of twon. They could not live in the homes because everything was wet. The water was BLACK, full of sewage, fuel, oil, whatever was picked up by the flood waters. To say it was a witches brew is another understatement. I saw thousands and thousands of acres of good farmland, still with crops, but the crop had turned BLACK. The reason we did not see looters is that who would want ANYTHING touched by that water?

A Red Cross van drove through the neighbor hood passing out food but there were very few people. Some houses were just high enough not be be flooded but there were not many. The van stopped and gave the man a clamshell of pasta and sauce and drove off. We gave the guy some money. A mere pittance but it was something. That was the first and last time I saw the Red Cross. We ate at a kitchen set up at a railroad station by the National Guard. They were feeding a bunch of people and stayed there for a week or so was my understanding.

Long story short, I went back with a different group of people to help with the clean up. I don't know where the Mennonites came from but they were there. I THINK I saw them on the first trip but I can't remember anymore. The Mennonite men were out working clearing out homes while the women were setting up a collection center for clothes and food. The Baptists had setup their operation at a church, which I think was a different denomination. The Baptists had a semi trailer truck that was part showers and kitchen. They rolled that setup into the church parking lot, setup some tents to hold tables and benches, and started cooking. Impressed I was. Very. They were using the church as a base, including a place for people to sleep. The Baptists had mostly women at the church running the kitchen and "house" operations. Teenagers were out removing the flooded goods from the houses, and when that was done, the men would move in and tear the house down to the studs to dry out. Later, they would rebuild.

We helped clean out three houses. The first house was in town and owned by a man in his 30's. People were all over the street clearing out houses but this guy had not done a think. He was waiting for help which bothered me a bit. He DID need help, that is not in doubt, but he could have started removing things. His neighbors had done so. As we finished up the house, a sweet old white lady drove up and asked if we could help her friends remove a few appliances from their house. The house was just down the road....

We were going to get lunch provided by the Baptists, but I asked the guys if they wanted to help this family first. They all said yes so off we went. Now, we were working through the town's process and contacts but we just figured this would take a moment... We we get on "down" the road which was a good 10 minutes away. . The home was an elderly black couple. What a place they had. They had a nice garden and put up freezers full of food. Well, that food was all rotten and had to be tossed, but they REALLY did need help with the freezers, range, and fridge. It took us a good good hour or so to get the appliances to the curb. But here is the thing. This elderly couple had managed to clear out this large house of EVERYTHING but the heavy appliances. If it was not for the large, two wheel barrow I had taken down with us, I don't know if we could have moved the appliances to the road. We were very impressed buy this couple and what they had managed to do.

We got back to town and my contact wondered where we had went. He thought we had given up and left.

After lunch we went to another house to clean up. On my first trip when the flood waters were still up, this house was unreachable. They home owners had been rescued by a neighbor, whose house was just above the flood waters, and he had an airboat. You don't see many airboat in NC but this man had one. Thank goodness. He rescued an entire neighborhood of people. Without him and that airboat, some of those people would have died...

We get to the house and the homeowners were starting to clean up. They had a dumpster and had hired some guys to help. We got that house cleared for them. The woman was recovering from cancer and chemo but she was trying to clean out that house. All of these houses were covered in mold at this point. Even during the first trip, the mold was all over the houses. I was coughing rainbow colored goo out of my lungs after both trips in spite of wearing N95 masks. No, way in heck should that woman have been in that house... We left them with the carton of N95 masks.

ALL of the clean up was done by the churches and individuals. This town government was organizing the work and the Federal government was paying for the caring off the damaged property but the grunt work was being done by people. Locals and those who came to help. Red Cross? Never saw them on the second trip...

Eastern NC at that time had five major military bases with many tens of thousands of personal. Two divisions and over two air wings. The only help they provided was some copter rescues, one of which pulled my wife's grandmother from a flooded creek, but that is another story. While the military has their training schedules and such, they could have sent out a mere handful of units to help with the clean up. I managed to interrupt my life on two occasions to help out those in need. The military could have done so as well, but the orders did not go down the chain. Our military rightfully will help out other nations after disasters, but when there was wide spread destruction outside the gates of these bases, no orders were given for just a few people to go help their own citizens. This is not ding on the military but the so called leadership at the Federal level. Not sure which was response was worse, the Federal government's or the Red Cross.

Later,
Dan