Written By: Winston Henvey

Mark Fitzgibbons pulled into Springtown, Texas, and stopped his car. In one neighborhood, a home appeared untouched. Just steps away, another was destroyed, with much of its structure gone in the aftermath of the storms.

In another part of the community, a new home lost its roof in the storm, while a mobile home next door was reduced to a rubble pile 50 yards from its foundation.

“[It] looked like Godzilla came down out of the sky and took a bite out of the middle of a house,” Fitzgibbons said. “It left a crescent moon-shaped chunk out of a two-story home. That power and devastation were still surprising to see.”

Following severe storms and a series of tornadoes that hit the communities of Springtown, Rio Vista, Runaway Bay, Mineral Wells and Weatherford, Texas, Fitzgibbons joined a team of Red Cross volunteers to assess damage and community needs.

Fitzgibbons has been a Red Cross volunteer for almost 2 years. Day-to-day, he is a Disaster Action Team manager who trains new volunteers to lead with empathy on the front lines of an emergency, bringing aid to families on their worst days.

While he has typically worked with North Texas residents who lost their homes in house or apartment fires, Fitzgibbons stepped up for his sixth disaster response, meeting the immediate needs of storm-affected residents over the last week.

“Seeing that absolute devastation and knowing the human stories behind it can really affect you and make you really feel for some people,” Fitzgibbons said.

While addressing the needs of residents on the scene, getting them food, water and a safe place to stay, Fitzgibbons found residents who remained resilient through the storm.

“It felt good to be able to provide that immediate assistance and direction for people, to get them to a place where they could be and feel a little bit safer than they did at that moment,” he said.

In the face of loss, Fitzgibbons saw hope in the community as neighbors helped each other through the aftermath of the tornadoes that struck Springtown, Rio Vista, Runaway Bay, Mineral Wells and Weatherford, Texas.

“We see lots of community-based organizations getting involved, supporting and providing [the community] with food banks, clothing drives and free water,” Fitzgibbons said. “Lots of organizations have come together within their community to help out.”

Fitzgibbons recalled dozens of people whose response to losing all their material possessions, say, “at least, we're all safe, and we were unharmed.”

“Seeing that resilience really does help me stay focused, stay in the moment and not get too worried about how things are going,” Fitzgibbons said. “Just seeing the positive side of human nature is really reassuring and supportive for the effort that we're trying to put in.”

In every neighborhood, on every street, someone has asked Red Cross volunteers to check on their neighbors, Fitzgibbons said.

 “People are showing up to their neighbors’ houses, and they're just helping each other out,” he added.

Alongside the Red Cross, residents showed up for their neighbors, with chainsaws, rakes, shovels and skid steers to help clean up the fallen branches and debris from the storm.

“I’ve seen lots of devastation and lots of resilience,” Fitzgibbons said.