By Kim Mailes
American Red Cross

Imagine. You’re a single mom, driving toward home. Your three children, Rowan age 15, Penn age 14, and Eleanor age 6 are there without you. The skies are vicious and threatening, the wind is howling, sirens are screaming, and the car radio is blaring urgent warnings. Your home is in the direct the path of a tornado.

“Knowing this was happening and I wasn’t there was really scary. I was pretty freaked out,” remembers Amy Dougherty of Little Rock, Arkansas one year later.

On the afternoon of March 31, 2023, a tornado pushing winds clocked at 164 miles per hour touched down in Little Rock, leaving a 34-miles-long path of destruction. The Dougherty house suffered a direct hit, along with hundreds of other homes. More than 50,000 people in central Arkansas lost power, and as survivors emerged from their wrecked homes to survey the damage, they knew their lives had been changed forever.

“It was a point of feeling very helpless,” Amy said. “I was trying to call the kids and couldn’t reach them. It was very emotional. I was just trying to get back home as quickly as I could. It was a frantic situation.”

As she approached her neighborhood, mangled trees blocked the streets and she had to park far away from the house.

“I was running towards our home and lost one of my shoes. I wasn’t even thinking of myself, just trying to get there as quickly as possible to make sure everyone was okay. The neighbors began screaming at me to stop because there was an electrical transformer down.” When she finally reaching the scene, she found that a neighbor had clawed into the remains of the house and gathered up the kids and the family dog.

“When it was all over, I felt intense gratitude that we all were well and untouched, though the house was destroyed. But as it all sank in, my thoughts turned to, what’s next?”

Immediately after the tornado, the American Red Cross sprang into action, setting up shelters where hundreds affected by the tornado found safety, a warm place to stay and hot meals. Behind the scenes, Red Cross Disaster Assessment Teams combed the neighborhoods, documenting the damage to provide a database to provide financial assistance for those affected.

“Within a week I was contacted by a Red Cross volunteer. We just kind of talked through things,” Amy said. “She connected me with another Red Cross volunteer who was a counselor and wanted to make sure things were well and that we were standing up under the heavy load. It was really comforting, and I’m truly grateful for all of the efforts of the Red Cross.”

Other Red Cross volunteers arranged immediate financial assistance for Amy and her family, which they used to purchase new mattresses for a rental house they had found where they could begin rebuilding their lives.

In addition to that first round of immediate assistance, the Red Cross followed up in the weeks and months following with bridge assistance to provide additional support. Amy used the bridge assistance to purchase a new couch and replace clothing lost in the tornado. “There were just so many things we needed, things you don’t think of,” she said.

Approaching the one-year anniversary of the tornado, Amy reports the family is recovering well. “We’re members of a great church and my kids go to a solid school — we just really have a great support system. And the help from the Red Cross made such a difference.”

“If I had the chance to speak with a donor to the Red Cross,” Amy said, “I would tell them it was such a warming feeling to be able to have the support, the care, the understanding — and truly the love — we felt during that time. The support we received from the Red Cross at such a difficult time made such a difference.”

By Susan Gallagher
American Red Cross

When dozens of tornadoes moved across seven states in March 2023, peak winds of 165 miles per hour hit the town of Wynne, AR. The storm killed four, injured 26, and destroyed or badly damaged multiple homes and the only high school.

When Wynne resident Tammi Sanderhoff returned from a trip visiting her family in Dallas, she found her 1970s-era, three- bedroom ranch home in ruins.

Fortunately, more than 4,200 American Red Cross volunteers and employees were on the scene to help the many people, like Tammi, who lost almost everything in Arkansas, and a dozen other states across the South and Midwest.

One year later, Tammi expects to occupy a newly rebuilt three-bedroom, two-bath home after months spent first in a hotel and then in a 400-square-foot tiny home. “We broke ground on the house in June 2023, laid the new foundation in November and framed up the house in January,” she said.

In the past year, Tammi has navigated shortages of supplies and contractors, and demanding insurance requirements for documentation on everything she lost. She has secured a construction loan and a mortgage and filled four, 8’ by 10’ storage sheds with whatever she could salvage, as well as new items she bought when insurance payments arrived.

“Throughout the entire ordeal, the Red Cross has been there for me,” she said. “Immediately after the tornado they provided tons and tons of support, from food to water to help cleaning up all the debris around my house. They offered me money for gas and incidentals because almost everything was blown away. I was in a hotel for three weeks and then moved to the tiny house rental.”

In 2017, Tammi purchased her 1400-square-foot ranch home in Wynne where her daughter, husband and five grandchildren live. She had spent 24 years as a financial officer working in six states at six federal prisons. One of those prisons was near Wynne where her daughter met her husband.

In the days and months after Tammi lost her house, Red Cross volunteers kept calling to check up on her. “They offered me additional financial support beyond the money they gave me immediately, but I had good insurance and told them to use it for someone who needed it more,” she said. “As an active Red Cross volunteer, I know there are many people who need help.”

At first, Tammi volunteered as an ambassador for Red Cross blood donor events. She then moved on to serve as a duty officer for disaster response. Over the past year, she has been most involved in responding to approximately 90 disaster calls. Tammi also serves as a Regional Disaster Action Training Lead, supporting a Red Cross staff member in recruiting and training volunteers to respond to disaster calls.

Tammi’s role as a volunteer doesn’t stop the phone calls from the Red Cross. “Recently they called to check about whether I could use donated supplies for my new house.”

In the past year, how has she managed to be so upbeat? “I cried and cried initially because I missed some of the things I had cherished for many years. I had Christmas decorations that dated back decades. I collected snow globes for 25 years. I guess they are floating somewhere around Memphis now. You have to deal with it and move on.” she said.

Tammi added that she got a holiday gift from a Red Cross colleague: A beautiful snow globe.

Update:
January 25, 2024

Fred Gilmore received Red Cross assistance after his home was damaged by the 2023 Arkansas tornadoes. His household includes his wife and his two children. They were only displaced from the home while the power was out, but it took longer to repair the damage from a “big, heavy tree” that fell on the roof.

He’s particularly grateful for the assistance he received to cover “things the insurance didn’t pay for.”

While the insurance covered much of the damage to the property and the home, the damage from this large tree was to a part of the house that appeared minor, so insurance didn’t cover it. In actuality, the “minor” damage on the surface had actually cracked a structure that supported the whole house and needed to be replaced. He used his funds to help cut up the tree and make that repair. Still, he feels lucky. The tree “would have splattered the house if it landed differently.”

He says his recovery overall has been good and the assistance he received was “wonderful” to help speed his safe return home.

Original caption / story from Photo Library:

July 11, 2023. Jacksonville, Arkansas. Betty Sinegal, an American Red Cross volunteer, opened a recovery case for Fred Gilmore and in a matter of minutes he was approved for financial assistance.

Betty is no stranger to disaster assistance. She’s been volunteering for more than eight years, and the feeling she has when providing financial assistance for someone in need is the same today as it was eight years ago when she started.

“When you’re packing up your bag to leave your husband, grandkids and kids, it just makes you feel to be able help people who really need it,” said Betty. “I still see tarps on houses, so people are still recovering, and that financial assistance Red Cross offers to help them find a place, get food or anything to help in their recovery is a good feeling.” As part of the organization’s climate crisis work, the Red Cross has expanded its financial assistance program to help more families and bridge critical gaps in disaster recovery.