By Mark Weyermuller -
Last Sunday, a tornado hit Washington, Illinois, causing massive destruction. One death was reported in the town, along with multiple injuries. Several hundred homes were destroyed or severely damaged. Despite the devastation, I found America at its best.
I got a first-hand look as I arrived to help my friend and former college roommate Tom help salvage his possessions and provide moral support. He told me heard the sirens for 15 minutes last Sunday, and looked outside several times, but saw no need to be concerned. Moments later, the house started to shake. He bolted for the basement, and 45 seconds later he was safe, but the house was leveled.
After the storm subsided, it took a while for Tom to exit from downstairs since some of house blocked the basement door. Neighbors moved the hutch that was blocking the kitchen door. Ninety percent of Tom's home was in the front yard and beyond. He found his American flag in the only remaining closet, and placed it on the front of his home. Other homeowners had put out their American flags amid the rubble, as well, saying "We are America."
We found much of Tom's belongings, including the clothes he just put in the clothes dryer, that ended up in his neighbors' front yard across the street and to the north. Believe it or not, we never found his refrigerator. A piece of Tom's mail was found 100 miles away.
Social media was up and running soon with the "Washington IL Tornado Recovery" Facebook page with updates on help. Another Facebook page, "Tazewell County Document & Photograph Recovery" is dedicated to returning mail and photos that people find.
Also helping us were 15 members of Bethany Baptist Church (complete strangers). They sifted through debris to find Tom's possessions and remove trash to the curb. All afternoon, Good Samaritans stopped by offering bottled water, sandwiches and support. Many of Tom's friends also arrived with bags, boxes, tools, and support. And later, yet another group arrived with more moving boxes and more tarps.
About 1:00 pm, a big group of folks with orange tee shirts approached with free buckets and free tarps from Home Depot. Another church group passed with a red wagon full of Subway sandwiches for anybody that was hungry. I saw hundreds of insurance agents, building contractors, repairmen, and other private sector people all day.
The local police and fire department were available all day, also passing out bottled water and assistance. Tom's local dry cleaner offered to wash or dry clean all his clothes for free. The Best Western where we stayed bought us a round of drinks after a hard day of work. There was no shortage of good will in this town.
FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) arrived and closed access to home owners on Thursday so they could assess damage. It took me less than five minutes to assess that 500 homes in a relatively small area were leveled or severely damaged.
With cold and wet weather approaching, the main concern Friday was removing debris and restoring utilities (water, gas, and electric). Many homeowners with minimum damage are staying in their homes, so utilities are vital.
One person remarked that the scariest words in the English language are, "The government is here to help." They were referring to the famous Ronald Reagan quote about the federal government.
Most of the folks in Washington have insurance and are ready to rebuild now. The homeowners, along with private sector and Good Samaritans, are spearheading the effort. The federal government has to communicate with residents.
If it were up to me, I would turn over recovery to the families and the local officials. The federal folks can maybe write a check and head back to DC unless they want to grab a shovel and work. FEMA is prohibiting folks from accessing their property next week to assess more and remove debris. I wouldn't do that. I don't want to stop folks from going home even if it's just a hole in the ground, literally.
Assessing, counting, photographing, and lots of bureaucratic red tape will only slow down the job at hand which is rebuilding the town, in my opinion.
I saw people laughing and crying with everything in between, yet a sense of hope and optimism prevailed - after all this is America.
Washington, Illinois, unlike Washington DC, will recover quickly if we outsiders get the heck out of the way.
