Texans on Mission provide tornado relief in East Texas

LONE STAR—Barbara Humphrey had one thing on her mind as she and her husband Terry watched members of the Texans on Mission Rolling Timbers disaster response team remove a gigantic oak tree from the couple’s yard and atop her nephew’s demolished travel trailer.

She could only think of gratitude in the aftermath of an April 4 Class EF2 tornado that hit Lone Star in East Texas.

“My nephew lived in that trailer,” she explained. “And he was coming to our house for supper that night. He got out 20 minutes before the tornado hit.

“It was devastating, and that trailer is just about flattened in most places. It’s totaled. It’s gone.”

While she is grateful her nephew survived, she just as readily pointed out her gratitude for the Texans on Mission team removing the tree, almost three feet wide at its base.

“Oh, you guys are a godsend to come and help us clean this up,” she said. “You don’t know what it means to me. It’s just so amazing and I thank you very much.”

Terry Humphrey echoed her thanks.

“It’s how blessed I feel having all the help we’ve had. We’ve got the best neighbors in the world, and then you guys come in here,” he said. “I don’t know how anybody could ask for more.

“And one thing about it, too. You all just don’t stand around. You got right in here and started to work.”

The tornado that ripped through the Humphreys’ neighborhood on the western shore of Ellison Creek Reservoir crossed the lake, destroying neighborhoods and parts of Lakeview Baptist Assembly on the eastern side.

According to KETK/Fox51 in Tyler, Lakeview had nearly 250 trees snapped, and 75 percent of the cars in their parking lot were totaled and thrown hundreds of yards away.

The television station also noted in an April 7 report: “People in Lone Star said great progress has been made with the help of volunteers like Texans on Mission.”

Set up command center at Lakeview Baptist Assembly

Texans on Mission teams set up its command center in Lakeview’s dining hall, which received minor damage. Volunteer Kathy McAlester took on the administrative role of coordinating teams and requests for help.

McAlester said the tornado “was just really strong and in a really dense area and hit the houses just down the block from this building and, of course, all around this building, too. They were just covered with trees.”

She pointed out a window to a dozen cars left in the camp’s parking lot, all of them smashed and undrivable.

“There were ladies in that worship center over there, more than a hundred ladies. They sheltered in a lower level, and all were fine,” she reported.

The Texans on Mission response was rapid, with assessors on the ground the following day, she noted. Teams including Rolling Timbers, Harmony-Pittsburg and Bluebonnet were providing chainsaw and heavy equipment relief by April 7.

Texans on Mission damage assessor Doug Clower of Paluxy Baptist Association’s team said many assessed homes had received major damage.

Clower said he assessed one home “that was chopped in half by two trees. They dropped on the brick (wall). If they hadn’t dropped on the brick, if they’d gone a little bit to the right and hit at a window, they would have just gone through the whole house. And they (the family) were in the hallway and would have been hit by those trees had that not happened.”

Bluebonnet team member Rick Crouch served as chaplain for the group. After talking to affected families, he said they’re feeling “just kind of distraught, figuring out what to do next, where to go, how to deal with insurance companies, caring for family members and how they’re going to get help.”

Crouch said the positive message he could give them is “we’re here to help. And a lot of them didn’t know about us. The first thing one family asked me was, ‘Well, how much are you going to charge?’

“And I looked up, and I said: ‘Hey, this is Jesus. We don’t charge anything.’”