Evergreen, VA Tornado - Still Standing

[Wudman]

A series of tornadoes struck central and eastern Virginia yesterday afternoon.  One came through about 30 miles west of me causing devastation to the community of Evergreen.  It stayed on the ground for over 8 miles.  My wife and I rode up there this morning to see if we could provide any support or assistance.  I snapped this photo that really touched me.



This picture was taken at Evergreen Methodist Church looking north.  The church lost part of its roof but was still standing.  To the west was total devastation.  The debris along the railroad tracts are the remnants of several homes immediately adjacent to the church.  Looking north, you can see the skeletons of a few trees.  Most of the timber is flat on the ground.  Over the cab of the pickup to the right is the remnants of a building; just out of frame to the east, the basement walls of a commercial building is all that remains.  In this little community, about 60 homes were either heavily damaged or completely destroyed.  About 600 feet to the west stands Evergreen Baptist Church.  It was untouched.  There was one fatality and seven people transported to the hospital from this community.  The school system held children yesterday and they sheltered in place at the schools.  This tornado touched down around 3:30 PM, so the actions of the school definitely saved lives.

Tornadoes also touched down in the Towns of Waverly and Tappahannock.  Three people lost their lives in Waverly.  Please keep all of those affected in your prayers.  God Bless.

Wudman 
 

[timberlinetree]

Those were real bad storms! Thought and prays for all those affected! That is some pic! Thanks for sharing.

[landscraper]

I saw those storms on the news, terrible.  We had heavy rain and wind but nothing like that.  Thoughts and prayers for the loss.  I havent been to Waverly in about 10 years - I knew the folks who owned Waverly Hardwoods, I was there the day of the auction when they sold it all off.

[rick carpenter]

A series of tornadoes struck central and eastern Virginia yesterday afternoon.  One came through about 30 miles west of me causing devastation to the community of Evergreen.  It stayed on the ground for over 8 miles.  My wife and I rode up there this morning to see if we could provide any support or assistance.  I snapped this photo that really touched me.

...

Wudman 

Kudos for trying to help Mr & Mrs Wudman! And super-kudos for saying "... to see if we could provide any support or assistance."! I do disaster mgt/relief/recovery for the Methodist church. Walk-ups like you and your wife are called Spontaneous Unaffiliated Volunteers, and SUVs can be a tremendous asset or can add disaster to a disaster if they demand to be accommodated for a specific task in a moment's notice. Which is why I was happy to read your "...if..."! In the disaster mgt community, there is specific training on how to best handle and use SUVs. If SUVs have patience, flexibility, and the know-how to help, they may be very effectively put to work in due time. I remember reading about a man from my town, Huntsville TX, who drove over to Mississippi after that big storm in 2005. This SUV set up a road-side chainsaw sharpening service and let homeowners and relief workers come to him. He made a tremendous contribution to relief efforts as an SUV because he did things the right way. A couple from my church, Huntsville FUMC, have a state fair type small cooking trailer and wanted to help in Joplin MO after their tornado. I made use of my ability to get through the red tape and put them in contact with the right people up there before they left here. They were able to hit the ground running, setting up shop well away from the disaster area and I think feeding first responders for a week. On the other hand, I read about a group of licensed but non-union electricians from Alabama(?) who went up to NJ area after Superstorm Sandy. Local laws prohibited them from just walking in to help. They got p***** and left and made a big deal about it in the media about how they were denied the opportunity to help. If they had checked beforehand, been flexible, and done things right, perhaps they could have added to the effort. As it was, they just used up local organizational resources by taking time and effort away from locals who were trying to do things the right way. (BTW, I'm not promoting or dissing unions, I'm just reflecting reality!)

It's always best to get affiliated with an organization ahead of time though to use your want-to & skills to the max. Baptists and Methodists are very often on the scene for relief work within hours/days, and the disaster mgt system that is generally used these days can utilize them in an organized manner. They are known beforehand for what they do and do not do; you just can't know ahead of time what capabilities SUVs might have. Other organizations may have local teams for immediate relief work too, so I suggest "shopping around" for an organization that you can contribute to and that can use you the best. We're not opposed to adding non-Methodists to our Early Response Teams here in Texas, so even if you're not Methodist you might want to check with UMC churches in your area.

To get my response on target for the forum, some groups use chainsaws and some don't. My Methodist Conference does not let our Early Response Teams use chainsaws but other Methodist conferences do. The __(state)__ Baptist Men though are well-known for their chainsaw teams.

Kudos again Wudmen!