Church succors tornado victims
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Volunteer efforts from Church members have been combined with Church resources to help alleviate destruction and distress in the wake of more than 380 tornadoes that touched down in the central and southern United States between May 4 and May 11, said Garry R. Flake, director of humanitarian emergency response for the Church.
"There are no Church members with fatalities or injuries as far as we can tell," Brother Flake said. "Everyone is accounted for, but approximately 20 homes of members have been totally destroyed."
The tornadoes affected 14 states, Brother Flake noted. "And we tracked disasters in 16 stakes of the Church across four different ecclesiastical areas."
In Oklahoma, where a powerful twister tore through the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore on Thursday, May 8, the Church the next day gave a $50,000 donation to the Red Cross for disaster relief, presented by President David Lawton of the Oklahoma City Oklahoma South Stake. Officials were "touched and emotional at both the generosity and quick response of the Church," Brother Flake said. (The area was hit almost exactly four years ago, on May 3, 1999, as an unprecedented category F6 tornado tore through south Oklahoma City. That storm also affected Moore.)
More than 200 volunteers from the Memphis Tennessee North Stake assembled on Saturday, May 10, to clear out debris in the city of Jackson, where storms inflicted heavy damage in the downtown area. A number of churches in the city were destroyed, and the LDS meetinghouse was offered to congregations as a temporary facility, said stake President Timothy A. Taylor.
During the cleanup, Relief Society sisters assisted as "runners" to keep the chain saws fueled and in operation as the brethren used them to cut up downed trees, Brother Flake said.
In tornado-afflicted Stockton, Mo., nearly 130 youth and 40 adult leaders from the Springfield Missouri Stake gathered on May 10 for disaster cleanup, said Marilynn Barnes, multi-stake public affairs director.
"Bishop G. Tim Goodman expressed his gratitude for the constant stream of volunteers from many quarters," she said. "There have been many denominations offering their services — Church members and others working side by side in a spirit of brotherhood."
Full-time missionaries in Stockton, Sister Sivilaise Leo Latu of Los Angeles, Calif., and Sister Jennifer M. Oliver of St. George, Utah, were with an investigator when storm sirens went off. The investigator insisted they go to the courthouse, long used as protection for those without sturdy shelter at home.
"There were many people at the courthouse, mostly women and children," Sister Barnes recounted. "When the sisters arrived, everyone was near panic and crying. The sisters said they tried to calm everyone, suggesting they pray or sing. The sisters remained calm as others became more frightened as the sirens wailed on. Sister Latu feels that because of their calmness, the children wanted to be near them.
Church members assisted in other areas of Missouri as well. Members of the Joplin Missouri Stake mounted a cleanup effort in the city of Carl Junction, Brother Flake said. And the St. Louis Missouri South Stake organized to assist in De Soto, where a high school and part of a junior high and elementary school were lost to a tornado.
In the Kansas City area, Church physical facilities manager Ross Schriever described events he termed "miraculous" in rapidly repairing the roof to the Church's Liberty Jail Visitors Center in Liberty, Mo. It suffered some damage from a tornado, which tore off the very top of the domed roof and damaged some vents, leaving the interior of the center exposed to the elements. The center memorializes the site where Joseph Smith was imprisoned in the winter of 1838-39 and there received the revelations recorded as Doctrine and Covenants Sections 121-123.
In what would understandably be a chaotic aftermath of such area-wide disaster, Brother Schriever went to the Lord in prayer to help him "find the people to protect the visitors center and make the area safe." Afterward, he quickly found the electricians, fencing company, roofing companies, tree trimmer, estimator, full-time Church employees and local Church volunteers he needed to do the job.
From 7 a.m . Monday, May 5, the day after the tornado, the repair and cleanup work was carried out. By 3:45 that afternoon, crews had left and the site was clean and safe. By 5:30 p.m., electrical power was restored to the center.
Of the Facilities Maintenance crew, he said, "These brethren worked non-stop, except for lunch, from the time they were on site until 3:30. They picked up the majority of the debris from our property and, as a good neighbor, cleaned the properties immediately adjoining our parking lot."
Meanwhile, he said, "the visitors center remained open during all the repair work. Tours were conducted by flashlight. Doors were opened to offer fresh air. The missionaries assigned to the jail did a wonderful job accommodating those who came to the center."
E-mail: rscott@desnews.com
