Chain saw and cleanup
teams from as far as Wilmington eased into High Point Monday following two
tornadoes in Davidson County and one in nearby Guilford County that severely
damaged dozens of homes and left hundreds of trees on the ground.
Meteorologists upgraded
the March 28 tornado that hit High Point to F3, with top winds of 139 miles per
hour.
North Carolina Baptist
Men’s disaster relief site coordinator John Gore, from Thomasville, said
Tuesday morning they’ve accepted 40 jobs, with other requests continuing to
arrive at the coordination site at Oak View Baptist Church. Twenty-eight
volunteers showed up Monday. Gore expected 45 volunteers on Tuesday and 60
Wednesday.
Given enough
volunteers, he expected to finish the jobs by the end of the week.
As in any severe storm,
amazing stories of survival and rescue emerge. Gore, a member of Greenwood
Baptist Church, said one mobile home was lifted with the residents inside and
dropped into a carp pond on Sink Lake Road. When the house disintegrated the
family swam out to safety.
Volunteers are being
housed overnight at Green Street Baptist Church. First Baptist Church set up in
the parking lot of Community Bible Church — across the street from a heavily
damaged neighborhood — to serve meals.
Joanna Souza, who lost
25 trees in her back yard, was grateful for the Baptist Men’s work at her
house. “They just worked and worked and worked,” said Souza, who was huddled
during the storm at a neighbor’s house. “They’re phenomenal.”
Souza, a member of
First Methodist Church in High Point, said the Baptist Men’s response will make
her “think twice” the next time her church asks for volunteers, and she will
plan to join them.
Jamie Caulder, getting
ready to pitch in to get a dozen trees out of his yard as three chain saws, a
skid loader and limb draggers were at work, said he felt lucky compared to some
other homes in his neighborhood. He had a hole in his roof, quickly covered
with blue tarp of the kind that colored the rooflines of several High Point
neighborhoods.
Adam Smith, a member of
Green Street Baptist Church and Campus Crusade for Christ director at High
Point University, was lugging limbs with a student and hoped to bring more over
to help during the week.
Volunteer Bill Burch of
Rose of Sharon Baptist Church in Durham lugged limbs and was glad to see the
skid loader arrive. “God called us to go out and help do things,” he said.
“This is one way I can contribute.”