Arkansas tornado recovery a long-haul proposition

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.
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.

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.”

Dwain Hebda

You can see Dwain Hebda’s byline in Arkansas Catholic and dozens of other online and print publications. He attends Our Lady of the Holy Souls Church in Little Rock.

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