By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
THREE RIVERS — Timothy Williams and Sharon Ross were sheltering in their house on South Main Street in Three Rivers on March 6 when the EF-2 tornado hit the city.
Ross said a “rather large” tree fell on their back porch, which “caved in” the area of the porch that covered their basement, and the two had some difficulty escaping once the storm was over.
“We kind of got trapped in the basement a little bit, and we had to crawl out of a small opening to get back out,” Ross said.
The rest of the house, Ross added, is still “somewhat” intact, albeit with some “structural” issues, but their road to recovery is still in the early stages.
Williams and Ross were one of many that came by a multi-agency resource center set up Saturday at Riverside Church in Three Rivers to help residents affected by the March 6 tornado that ripped through the city. More than a dozen organizations, government agencies, and volunteer groups were available at the center, providing supplies, information, and coordination with local resources all in one location to help residents with their recovery process from the tornado.
“We were calling around trying to find some resources to try to help clean up the debris. Called the United Way, and they pointed us this way,” Williams said. “It’s been super helpful.”
Lt. Orville Theaker, a regional coordinator with Michigan State Police’s Emergency Management and Homeland Security Division, which oversaw the resource center, likened it to a “one-stop shop” for those affected to get help.
“It makes it a lot more convenient because being a victim of a disaster like this, a significant storm, there’s a lot of stress that is put on somebody. They’ve lost either property, they’ve maybe even lost their home,” Theaker said. “So, having one place where they can come in, kind of that one-stop shop, is really important. The point is that we’re trying to remove some of that stress from them.”
Some state agencies were in attendance, such as the Secretary of State, which helped people recover documents that they may have lost during the storm, the Department of Insurance and Financial Services, which help those affected deal with insurance companies, and the Department of Health and Human Resources.
Volunteer organizations in attendance included Samaritan’s Purse, the Salvation Army, the Red Cross, and the United Way. Other organizations there to provide assistance were case management organization After The Storm, the Area Agency on Aging, the Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency, Adventist Community Services and Disaster Response, The Society of St. Vincent de Paul USA, HOPE Animal-Assisted Crisis Response, and RV dealership Krenek RV, which helped connect victims with long-term temporary housing.
Jessica Vergauwen, whose house had its roof damaged in the storm “down to the deck boards,” also attended the resource center, stopping by a number of different booths. She said while her house wasn’t as badly damaged as others in her neighborhood were, having the resources available was “amazing.”
“It’s an amazing outpour of help I think our city is in huge need of right now,” Vergauwen said. “Especially people that were displaced or just need some extra help right now, it’s just awesome.”
Rece Cooke attended the resource center on behalf of her senior-age mother, whose house on the hard-hit Constantine Street was also damaged in the storm and did not have insurance on it. Cooke said she had an “overwhelming sense of gratitude” that the resources were available to help.
“She doesn’t have the means to fix her roof, doesn’t have the means to do things. We’d just be lost without these [resources],” Cooke said. “This would be devastating to the community without these resources. A majority of people can’t do this work or pay for these kinds of things.”
Theaker said it was “fantastic” to see the turnout for the resource center, and that many people were able to take advantage of the opportunity to know what resources are available in the community in the aftermath of the storm.
“We’re hoping that it makes it a little bit more convenient as they’re starting to work through that recovery from the storm,” Theaker said. “And then it’s very heartwarming to see all the organizations willing to come out on a Saturday to be able to provide those services and those resources to the community.”
Saturday’s resource center is the only one that is planned as of right now in the Three Rivers community; Theaker said traditionally, only one multi-agency resource center is set up during the incident. However, Theaker said those still in need of assistance to recover from the storm are highly encouraged to call 211.
“211 is the best way because it’s that virtual one-stop shop where any storm survivors, they can call 211 and just tell them, hey, this is my list of needs that I have as a result of the storm, and then they would be able to connect them or be able to pass that information along to those agencies that would be able to assist them,” Theaker said.
Whether or not the resource center or 211 is used, the biggest thing that Williams and Ross took away from the experience Saturday is that reaching out for help is the first big step toward recovery from such a catastrophic event like the March 6 tornado.
“Reaching out for help is honestly the only way to get through this,” Ross said.
“Don’t get too prideful, you’ve got to reach out for help when you need it,” Williams said.
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@wilcoxnewspapers.com.
