By Jennifer Dorsett
Field Editor
On the evening of April 22, an EF-3 tornado ripped through Polk County, causing massive damage and destruction of homes and businesses along its 32-mile path.
A National Weather Service survey showed tornadic winds likely peaked to 140 miles per hour as the storm tore through the town of Onalaska.
“The tornado continued a general east-northeastward track across rural Polk County, where it snapped and uprooted numerous hardwood and softwood trees and intermittently damaged structures,” the survey summary said, adding the tornado remained in rural areas until it ended.
Tornado damage can’t dampen Polk County spirits
The Polk County Office of Emergency Management reports three people were killed, 57 were injured and five remain in critical condition as the county works to rebuild after the devastating storm.
But area residents say they are resilient and won’t let the one-two punch of the coronavirus pandemic and a tornado keep them down for long.
“There are some folks who are still a little bit in shock, but the overall mood is, ‘We’ve been knocked down before, and we got up. We rebuilt, and we’re going to do it again,’” Polk County Farm Bureau (CFB) President Wesley Smith said.
Miles of fences were destroyed, and a preliminary forest survey by Texas A&M revealed heavy losses.
“Texas A&M did a survey on timber loss, and the stumpage loss alone is estimated at 1.9 million board feet,” Smith, the owner and operator of Double Creek Christmas Tree Farm in Livingston, said. “That’s not after it goes out of the mill into the lumberyard, that’s the stump loss. Some of that will be recovered, I’m sure, but a lot of it won’t. So, that’s pretty heavy.”
Smith said the outpouring of support has been overwhelming.
“The response from the community and the state and even in the nation…it’s been incredible to watch,” he said. “We’ve had people here from over 100 different relief organizations throughout the country.”
That includes assistance from Polk CFB, which used the Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) Feeding Texas Co-op Contribution Program to provide $2,000 to a local organization, Center of Hope. Smith said the money will go to feeding people who have lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic, as well as those who lost homes in the tornado.
And other county Farm Bureaus also helped the community.
“Two to three days after the event, Cherokee County (Farm Bureau) and Tyler County (Farm Bureau) had supplies here for us to help get distributed immediately,” Smith said. “And they were on the phone asking, ‘Beyond that, what else can we do? What can we do to help?” So, relief is coming in from a lot of places. It’s just so good to see other counties standing by us through this time.”
East Texas CFBs lend a helping hand
Cherokee County residents understand the lasting impact of severe storms, having had an EF-3 tornado touch down near the town of Alto just one year ago.
TFB District 9 State Director John Griffith, who’s from Alto, said Cherokee CFB mobilized immediately to see what could be done to help Polk County. He knew there would be a need for bottled water, so Griffith reached out to a welding supplies distributor in Cherokee County to ask for assistance.
After securing two pallets of bottled water from the distributor and what Griffith described as “nearly a truckload” of personal hygiene products—including soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, razors and more—Cherokee CFB was on its way to Onalaska.
“Upon reaching the city, we saw just a small portion of the devastation, and it brought back some of the same frightful memories of the devastation that we suffered in our county the prior year,” Griffith said. “And to this day, one year later, we are still involved in the rebuilding efforts, the renovation, the cleanup efforts. It’s a long, arduous process to get life back to normal, but we’re going to help Polk County the way they helped us. Whatever it takes.”
While Cherokee CFB had some fencing supplies on hand from last year’s relief efforts, the board members wanted to do more. They purchased more fencing supplies, including t-posts, barbed wire, fencing tools, chainsaw fuel and other necessities, and delivered those to Polk CFB at the end of April.
Walker CFB also donated money to purchase food for citizens of Onalaska and Polk County, and Tyler CFB purchased and delivered cleaning supplies to help residents begin to clean up the mess.
“We purchased cleaning supplies, mops, brooms, Clorox, that kind of thing,” Tyler CFB President Wade Skinner said. “We did so because it’s just the right thing to do. It’s families helping families, and that’s what the organization’s all about. We’re here to help. The Lord tells us we’re to help our neighbors and that’s what we try to do, as best we can.”
Smith said if anyone wishes to help, they should contact the Center of Hope in Livingston at 936.327.7634.
“If you’d like to make a donation, this organization is well-vetted, and they’re not going to waste your money. It’s all run by volunteers,” he said. “If you want to do something, that would be a place to start. And we always appreciate your prayers.”