By Winston Henvey

Megan Hudson didn't set out to be a leader in Mineral Wells' tornado recovery. She just started making calls.

A lifelong resident and Palo Pinto County General Hospital employee, Hudson was in a foundation meeting on April 28 when the tornado struck, unaware of how bad it was about to get. Her mother called, telling her to take shelter. Hudson only saw rain.

It wasn't until she got home that she learned the tornado had hit. Her first thought was her parents.

"They were in the direct line," she said. "I rushed over. I was overwhelmed by the damage I saw in that neighborhood."

From the bottom of the hill, the area looked untouched. At the top, two homes were completely leveled, and several others had lost their roofs entirely.

"I was in shock," Hudson said. "I saw the damage in the Holiday Hills area, but I had no clue until that morning that Parker Hannifin and Ventamatic were completely destroyed."

By the next morning, she was already moving. A message from her boss led her to a press conference at Holiday Hills Country Club, where city officials described how they'd responded the night before.

"This was a huge deal for our tiny town," Hudson said. "Being in the middle of the wreckage while they told their stories was overwhelming."

Mayor Reagan Johnson asked Hudson to help the local nonprofit Center of Life, where staff were already stretched thin, sorting donations, assisting displaced residents and supporting their regular unhoused clients all at once. Hudson assessed the gaps and started filling them.

Then she overheard a call that changed the scale of the response entirely. The police association needed help feeding residents. Hudson connected them with New Haven Ministries. From there, food trucks, other local ministries, and the Red Cross joined in. By Sunday, the collaborative effort had served 600 people.

"I always knew Mineral Wells would come together when they needed to," Hudson said. "As a lifelong resident, I wasn't surprised to see everybody step up."

She's quick to deflect the credit.

"I'm just the dot connector," Hudson said.