Catholics in Arkansas are helping their neighbors deal with the blow of severe weather that started April 15 with tornadoes and now has sparked flooding around the state after almost constant rainfall.
The tornado that struck in the Vilonia area turned deadly and took four lives April 25. People in the area are still clearing debris. The schools opened for the first time May 2 since the storm.
Deacon Bob Morris is working with the parish disaster recovery team from St. Albert Church in Heber Springs to help the people of Vilonia.
Disaster teams are located around the state and are trained by Catholic Charities of Arkansas to help with long-term recovery in local communities. They first organized to help thousands of victims of Hurricane Katrina that came to Arkansas in 2005.
“Our last client from Katrina was taken care of last year. We are there for these people long-term, and that shows it. We don’t back off until they are truly back on their feet,” Morris said.
The Heber Springs team is in assessment and preparation mode, assessing what kind of help affected families will need.
Catholic Charities of Arkansas received a $10,000 grant from Catholic Charities USA for relief in the Vilonia area. Director Sister Mary Lou Stubbs, DC, said they will assess if other areas qualify for a similar grant.
The Junior High Catholic Youth Ministry at St. Jude Church in Jacksonville volunteered in Vilonia Saturday, April 30. Junior CYM leader Shana Hill said her husband Craig wanted to help people in their community and decided to provide food for those devastated by the tornado.
“My husband and I live in Vilonia. He came home after it and said we were going to feed the tornado victims. He loves to cook, so it’s a good use of his talents.”
The Hills donated the meat for the sandwiches, and the Wendy’s restaurant donated buns and Arvest Bank in Cabot donated water. The youth volunteers also donated paper towels, sport drinks and hand sanitizer. They served 450 sandwiches throughout the day.
The St. Jude CYM also picked up shingles and tree limbs.
“It has been an experience for the Junior CYM for sure,” Hill said. “They were so enthusiastic and were able to experience hands-on what it’s like to help others devastated by something like this. It was wonderful to see how people come together and helps others whose whole lives changed after this.”
At St. Paul Church in Pocahontas, the church itself is safe from flood waters, as it stands on “Catholic Hill,” but others in east Pocahontas are under water.
“We normally have spring floods, but this one is so much worse. It is affecting more people. The water this year is different than ever before. It is coming up in more areas where it’s never flooded before,” parish secretary Jennifer Nichols said.
A levee on the Black River broke and flooded a housing project and displaced the residents, including many elderly. A shelter is set up at the community center, Nichols said, On Friday, April 29, about 50 people were there, but with the waters rising more were expected — up to 250. They are feeding about 150 people a day, as some people have family in the area that they can stay with.
The parish is helping out in anyway it can, providing necessary supplies or volunteer time. They have a group of trained craftsmen, the Service of Jesus the Carpenter, who are carpenters, plumbers and handymen with skills to help when clean up begins.
The team’s real work will come when the waters recede and people need to get back on their feet.
The team worked with Catholic Charities to send a truck with necessary supplies, including diapers, toilet paper and toothpaste.
“It’s been a mess all the way around. You have people in need. What else is our church for than to help? All the churches in the community are working together to help,” pastoral associate Ronnie Rose said. “The generosity of people is overwhelming. They want to do their part.”
Many businesses are located in east Pocahontas, so Rose said people are also out of work. Farming is also at a standstill.
“No farming means no work. Businesses are also closed. Money will be real tight for many for a while. People will need help to get back on their feet and that’s what we’ll help them with,” he said. “When the water goes down, that’s when the work begins.”