By Brianna Stephens
They only had minutes to get to safety. When William Jackson heard a tornado was barreling toward his home in Laurel County, he took his family to his sister-in-law’s home nearby to take cover in her basement. Just before going into the basement, Jackson looked toward the sky and saw the approaching tornado. The night of May 16, a deadly tornado, nearly one mile wide with max winds of 170 mph traveled 55.6 miles, devastated communities across three counties in Southeastern Kentucky.
“When I came back home 30 minutes later and saw it, it was devastating. Everything was gone,” Jackson said. “I thank God my family is alive. Just keep us in your prayers. Things can be replaced but family can’t. We lost about everything.”
The tornado pushed Jackson’s home off its foundation and demolished his garage. When daylight came the following day, the family began cleaning up debris and boxing up what was left of their belongings before more storms blew through the area.
In the wake of disasters in the Appalachian region, Christian Appalachian Project (CAP) is there to help families in need. Immediately following the tornado, CAP’s Operation Sharing coordinated and delivered semi tractor trailer loads of critical supplies like food, water, and hygiene items to distribution centers and responding agencies in the disaster areas.
CAP employees helped deliver supplies and hot meals into the communities the week following the disaster. Jackson received items like storage totes to pack salvaged belongings, hygiene items, cleaning supplies, and a generator because he was without power.
In Pulaski County, CAP partnered with the Nancy Fire Department to distribute supplies to disaster survivors. The night of the tornado, the fire department took in 40 people from nearby RV parks and immediately sent crews to respond to the destruction that took place. Since that night, members of the Nancy Fire Department and countless other agencies have worked around the clock to clean debris, restore power, and check on residents.
“The donated supplies from Christian Appalachian Project means we’re able to provide for the community, to give them what we can if they need it,” said Roger Rainwater, fire chief of the Nancy Fire Department. “The support our community has received is just unreal. From the donations to the volunteers, I couldn’t ask for anything more. Everyone has been grateful and thankful to have the donations from CAP.”
The generosity of CAP’s donors, like World Vision, Good360, Hearts with Hands, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, made Operation Sharing’s swift response to this disaster possible.
