More than 5,000 homes were damaged or destroyed in all, and in some locations where the most violent tornadoes were concentrated, not much was left standing. One of those places was Vilonia, Arkansas.
Regional Managers Len and Carrie Blauwkamp from World Renew Disaster Response Services (DRS) traveled to Arkansas in early May to meet with partners to help shape the emerging response plan and to begin damage assessments on the ground.
“We talked with those who survived the tornadoes, giving them spiritual and emotional support wherever we could,” Len said. “We also explained the next steps that people can take to start to put their lives and homes back together.”
Last week, the Blauwkamps met Hal Sellers, an EF4 tornado survivor in Vilonia, Arkansas, where ten people were killed. The couple says that the damage to the small town is devastating and the loss, heartbreaking. A less severe tornado hit Vilonia just three years ago, and many homes that were rebuilt then were struck down again in April. Sellers and five of his extended family members lost everything, but Len had the opportunity to talk and pray with him.
“There used to be a dozen homes in the neighborhood where we met Hal,” Carrie said. “Now, all that is left is debris and the cement slabs where the houses stood.”
Sellers and seven of his family members found shelter in an underground storm shelter—and it saved their lives. Every one of their five homes was totally destroyed. He was mourning the loss of his and his family’s possessions, but Sellers was grateful to be spared.
“I asked the Lord to place his hedge of protection around us, and He did,” Hal told Len. “Thank God—none of us has a scratch on us.”
“I asked the Lord to place his hedge of protection around us, and He did,” Hal told Len. “Thank God—none of us has a scratch on us.”
To help more families who live in tornado-prone areas of the United States prepare for a disaster, World Renew DRS is participating in a Storm Shelter Pilot Program with other disaster-response organizations.
“The goal of the storm shelter project is to create a safe location in every home we rebuild after a tornado,” says DRS Director Bill Adams. “We are piloting the program in the Moore, Oklahoma, area after the tornadoes there in 2013, but our intent is to replicate it in all areas of the U.S. that are vulnerable to tornadoes.”
The storm shelter program aims to ensure that every rebuilt or newly-built home in America’s “tornado alley” includes a concrete structure that is built to federal standards. “Some states, like Oklahoma,” Adams says, “are starting to provide rebates to home owners to cover most of the cost of building a storm shelter in or beneath new and rebuilt houses.
“Our goal is to reduce the risk of future injuries and loss of life during a tornado.” That means that more homeowners like the Sellers will survive the tornadoes and storms that have devastated many areas of the central and southern U.S. in recent years, Len and Carrie Blauwkamp note.
The Blauwkamps volunteer as regional managers (RMs) for World Renew DRS in one of 12 geographic areas across the United States and Canada. They and several other RMs were activated by World Renew DRS to respond to April’s multi-front disaster. Early response coordinators were deployed in the days following last month’s tornadoes, and DRS staff began to contact churches in the affected areas.
“During the last week of April, World Renew connected very frequently with our RMs in the southern, western, and eastern U.S.,” said Bill Adams, World Renew DRS director. “They gathered damage reports and stayed up to date with volunteer and government partners for a potential response.”
While the storm caused destruction in dozens of locations, including a tornado in Louisville, Mississippi, and nearly two feet of rain in Florida, much of the loss of life and property occurred in Arkansas.
“Because this is a wide-spread, high-velocity disaster, recovering from it will be a long process,” Adams says. “It will require communities like Vilonia to work together to rebuild their businesses, homes, and families. World Renew DRS will walk alongside them to serve those in need, specifically those who don’t have the resources to recover or to build a storm shelter on their own—and point them to Jesus as our shelter in the storm.”
