Arkansas tornado recovery a long-haul proposition

Central Arkansas Catholics help start the journey back from the belly of EF4 beast

Published: May 9, 2014

By Dwain Hebda
Associate Editor

Teams of volunteers from St. Joseph Church in Conway, St. Andrew in Danville, St. Augustine in Dardanelle, and Catholic Campus Ministry at the Uni-versity of Central Arkansas went to the Black Oak Ranch Estates near Vilonia May 2 to help clear debris caused by the devastating tornado that hit the area April 27.

Two survivors’ stories: Louder than the storm

Listening to Kristine Carter, one would never guess the harrowing experience she, her husband Michael and their sixth-grade son Sean endured the night of April 27. She told Arkansas Catholic about the storm.

“We’re still waiting on a structural evaluation, but all indications are that the house is totaled,” she said of the family home located between Roland and Natural Steps. “It ripped off the front and the side and the house was twisted and cracked off the foundation. Along the seams where the roof and the walls meet you’re seeing light where you shouldn’t see it.”

The Christ the King parishioners had just finished dinner when a weather alert sounded on Sean’s phone. Michael hustled his family into the basement before his masculine instincts got the best of him.

“Like a typical guy, he stays upstairs and takes a look outside,” Kristine said. “But he took one look and then decided it was time to get into the basement with us.”

She said the storm was over in a minute; emerging from the basement they got their first clue as to the damage, saying, “When you have insulation floating inside your home, you know it’s not a good thing.”

For Meredith Rice, home alone with her two children Susan Caroline and Jett, the damage was much lighter, but you’d never know it from the violence of the storm that struck their home in Roland. In minutes, the temperature dropped and the interior pressure mounted making it hard to open and close doors, all under an eerie pea-green sky.

“The kids hunkered down in the hall bathroom and I laid on top of them,” she said. “I told them to link arms. I told them to pray and pray loud, because the noise was so loud. We prayed a Hail Mary and we didn’t even get to ‘full of grace’ when it hit.”

Rice, also a member of Christ the King Church in Little Rock, said the terror of the storm’s passing was rivaled only by the stillness afterward.

“We went outside to see the damage, and I could hear birds chirping,” she said.

Both women said the outpouring of support from their parish has been overwhelming. They also said the incident gives them a new perspective on their lives and their faith.

“When we went outside, it was someplace we didn’t recognize with all the downed trees,” Rice said. “Jett looked at me, and I get choked up every time I think about it, and he said, ‘Jesus heard us. We were louder than the tornado.’”

Catholic helpers have waded into the cleanup and recovery facing Faulkner County victims of April 27’s EF4 tornado, some with their hands, many with their funds and all with rent hearts at the sight of the destruction.

“There are places where there’s just nothing left”, said Father John Marconi, pastor of St. Joseph Church in Conway.

Father Marconi was among a contingency of workers who pitched in near the tiny community of Black Oak.

“There are a lot of Hispanic families here, and they have nothing left of their homes but a concrete slab. We spent all day walking the grounds and saw nothing, nothing but piles of rubble.”

One of the wryest twists of the aftermath of the monster tornado that decimated Arkansas communities is that the days that followed dawned under some of the mildest, most crystal-clear spring skies of 2014. The fair weather only laid more bare the residue of Nature’s wrath and the mammoth trek back from catastrophic loss of life and property that lies ahead.

“I have gone on bicycle tours through Mayflower, and it is unrecognizable,” said Patrick Gallaher, executive director for Catholic Charities of Arkansas. “I saw damage to masonry buildings that I didn’t expect; the force of the storm can only be described as explosive.”

Gallaher has spent a good deal of time in the hardest hit areas as part of CCA’s ongoing support of storm victims. He’s also been witness to the depth of concern Catholics have for this decimated area.

“The outpouring of generosity among the people has been immediate and overwhelming,” he said. “I heard from a fourth grade teacher in New Orleans who said her class was taking up a collection for victims.”

Gallaher also commended Christ the King School in Little Rock, which collected $10,000 for CCA’s relief efforts in less than a week. The parish has also been active in supporting affected parishioners in areas other than Violnia and Mayflower. Half a dozen families were affected in various parts of west Pulaski County.

Other out-of-state assistance included two trained disaster relief caseworkers from Catholic Charities of South Missouri and a cleanup crew from Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. These efforts augment cleanup crews from Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Hot Springs Village, Immaculate Conception Church in Fort Smith and a combined force from St. Augustine Church in Dardanelle and St. Andrew Church in Danville, led by their pastor Father James Melnick.

Father Melnick was at a loss for words to describe the destruction, but not the presence of Jesus amid the ruins.

“I have some atheist friends who said how can you believe in a God who would allow this to happen to people,” he said. “But all the people who went out there to help, that’s where Jesus was. The good in people, the people who dropped everything and took half a day off of work without thinking twice to help complete strangers and restore life, that was Jesus.”

Because there is no Catholic church in Mayflower or Vilonia, St. Joseph Church has been thrust into the center of relief and cleanup efforts. The parish has already sponsored two work groups, was briefly a Red Cross refugee center and has pledged space for CCA to operate long-term disaster assistance and case management.

And, despite Conway avoiding the storm altogether, St. Joseph still felt the ultimate sting of its fury, as the only parish in the state to have buried its own. Dennis and Glenna Lavergne of Vilonia were among the 15 lives lost to the tornado. The couple, who have been members of St. Joseph Church since moving to the area in 1998, were married in November 1982. They are survived by two sons, Christopher Lavernge and Travis Lavernge; and one grandchild.

CCA is also one of the few safe havens for undocumented immigrants to seek help. Gallaher said despite many such families having suffered tremendous loss, some were ineligible for FEMA assistance, if they came forward at all.

“Some of these families were afraid of the authorities due to their status,” Gallaher said. “We have been very active in trying to seek these families out.”

CCA, along with the St. Vincent de Paul Society and the churches, are part of a larger consortium of civic and faith-based groups collectively known as Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters, or VOAD.

“If you have insurance or if you have a business or if you are a U.S. citizen, there’s a mechanism that’s well set up to help you; FEMA being the safety net,” he said. “We catch those who fall through the safety net.”

Two survivors’ stories: Louder than the storm

“Like a typical guy, he stays upstairs and takes a look outside,” Kristine said. “But he took one look and then decided it was time to get into the basement with us.”

Rice, also a member of Christ the King Church in Little Rock, said the terror of the storm’s passing was rivaled only by the stillness afterward.

“We went outside to see the damage, and I could hear birds chirping,” she said.

Both women said the outpouring of support from their parish has been overwhelming. They also said the incident gives them a new perspective on their lives and their faith.