Five years ago I drove over a thousand miles from Chicago to New Orleans with a team to help with disaster relief. Hurricane Katrina left immense devastation, destruction, death and despair in her wake. It was something our country hadn’t seen for a while. It was something that I never wanted to see again.
Hurricane Katrina Relief Team
Fast forward five years to last night. I went to Stony Brook, a mobile home community in Raleigh, North Carolina. On Saturday, April 16, 2011, a tornado ripped through the mobile home park. Flashbacks of the destruction in New Orleans came to mind as I made my way through this community.
Twisted metal. Shattered windows. Fallen trees. Vacant foundations where a home once stood. Clothes, furniture, televisions, toys, doors, windows, toilets, tubs, curtains and food wrappers were just some of the mess strewn across the ground. Residents of the homes looked on at the destruction still in shock. They were still hoping to wake up from a nightmare.
I heard the story of a man who stood by his front door trying to hold it shut as the tornado swept through literally picking up his neighbor’s house and throwing it almost 50 yards away. The man’s son was so traumatized he has yet to return to see the aftermath.
One mother locked herself and her young 4-year-old daughter in the bathroom and pushed her daughter’s head down as a tree came crashing through roof missing them by mere inches.
I saw the house, or at least what’s left of it where three young children lost their lives. It was heart-wrenching.
Family after family had a story. The reason I did not take pictures was because everything was too fresh. These were people’s homes, these were real stories, this was real life. They did not want their misfortune to be made a spectacle any more than it had been already. They just wanted life to be back to normal.
These poor families were panicking last night as they heard that more tornados were a possibility that very night and throughout today.
As I woke up this morning, I saw the news. More tornados had swept through the south leaving a huge impact on much of Alabama and Georgia. I talked with one of my friends in Alabama this morning. He is just mile away from where the tornado touched down. Thankfully, he and his family is safe, they’re just missing a couple shingles. He also informed me that they will probably be without power for upwards of a week.
What can I do to help? is the question that so many people are asking. As of right now, Stony Brook and other areas affected by the tornados in Raleigh, Alabama and Georgia are all under police guard. In fact, they did not even let an NBC news crew into Stony Brook last night while I was there. All of that to say, it is difficult to get in and do the hands-on labor as of right now. Though that will change soon.
Some great places to check for opportunities to volunteer would be at a local church and with the American Red Cross. The Red Cross is also collecting money via text if you Text “Red Cross” to 90999. This will donate $10 to the Red Cross. Standard text message rates apply.
These deadly tornadoes are devastating. Continue to pray and look for opportunities to serve. There are still tornadoes blowing through the east coast, so if you are in line of one of the storms, take proper precautions.