Winona Lake Resident Helps With Tornado Cleanup
By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews
WINONA LAKE — In the aftermath of the tornadoes that devastated several states, many people have stepped up to help.
One such person is Brad Brail of Winona Lake.
Brail spent 10 days helping clean up in Kentucky following the storms that hit there in early December. He went as a volunteer with Samaritan’s Purse, a Christian aid organization that performs several services, including disaster relief.
He’s volunteered with the group for six years and gone to about a dozen disasters.
This time, he went to Bowling Green and Dawson Springs, helping with a team of volunteers.
Brail described the damage left in the storms’ wake as very destructive. He saw brick homes that had been demolished and three-foot-diameter trees that had been snapped off.
The storm that hit Bowling Green was classified as an EF3. Brail said 15 people were killed in Bowling Green, the majority being from just two families that were neighbors.
Yet in the midst of the destruction, Brail also saw humanity’s overwhelming response to it. He noted that he saw “strangers helping strangers and neighbors helping neighbors.”
Brail helped with putting tarps on roofs, cleaning up debris and cutting down trees. He also helped with search and rescue for a while.
He drove a box truck to sites that carried all sorts of tools, “basically a Home Depot on wheels,” he said.
Part of the devastation was that people’s Christmas gifts were part of the items caught up in the damage. Brail said several toy drives were held to collect new gifts for kids.
Brail said the homes of people with disabilities and veterans as well as first responders took priority in their cleanup efforts, which frees the latter to not worry about their own homes when they’re working long hours to help with the disaster efforts themselves.
“Homeowners are so appreciative of the help,” said Brail.
Help is still needed. To learn how to volunteer with the cleanup specifically in Bowling Green, people should go to wearebgstrong.com. To help with Samaritan’s Purse efforts, people may visit spvolunteer.org.
Brail said people don’t have to have special skills to help with the cleanup.
“You don’t need a particular skill set,” he said.
If people volunteer with Samaritan’s Purse, the organization will provide a place to stay for them while they work, said Brail. Meals are also covered.
“It’s very rewarding work,” he said.