Deadly tornadoes hit parts of the Midwest on Tuesday, killing at least three people and leaving hundreds of homes damaged. Rapid Response teams are researching damages in Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, and southern Indiana.
Rapid Response team members say the damage is extensive in Perryville, Missouri. One 83-year-old woman took refuge behind a couch in her basement as the tornado tore out the basement walls. “I thought I was going to get sucked out too,” she told the team. But she came out without a scratch. However, the tornado completely took the house away.
“The main floor is gone and a lot of her stuff is gone,” reported Edwin Coblentz, a Rapid Response team member. CAM volunteers helped carry out the debris and pick up her yard.
The tornado also damaged a machine shed, grain trucks, and grain bins on the family farm run by her two sons. “Since the tornado they’ve been hauling grain out,” said Edwin. “They are completely relying on neighbors and friends.”
In southern Indiana our teams also report lots of fallen trees, houses completely destroyed or with roofs stripped off. In Naplate, Illinois, some residents described the tornado’s aftermath as looking like a bomb went off.
Please keep our teams in your prayers as they minister to those affected by the storms. Pray also for those devastated by loss.
