While Lowndes County was spared from the wrath of Wednesday storms, neighboring counties were devastated. And Columbus and Lowndes County law enforcement, firefighters, charitable agencies and churches migrated to Clay and Monroe counties, as well as Tuscaloosa, Ala., to help with relief and recovery efforts.
In Smithville, where bodies waited in downtown to be identified, volunteer nurses and food trucks were turned away, as emergency responders worked into the night searching through homes and other buildings for survivors and corpses.
The Smithville Church of Christ on Smithville Road opened its doors, offering hot meals. Area Churches of Christ are responding to the Smithville congregation”s call for help, buying necessities to be delivered to Smithville.
A Red Cross shelter is open in nearby Amory at First Baptist Church, which also is serving hot meals. A separate feeding center is open at Amory High School. While no one stayed in the Amory shelter on the first night of the storm, 12 took advantage of a shelter opened at the Bryan Union Hall on Cow Palace Road in West Point. Montpelier and neighboring towns were devastated by the storms.
The Columbus-based Tenn-Tom Chapter of the American Red Cross has two emergency response vehicles out “to take food into areas that are hit the hardest,” Red Cross Director Becky Thomas said Thursday afternoon. “They”re not allowing us to go into the damage area.”
Along with food, the ERVs are offering bath cloths, toothpaste, toothbrushes and home clean-up kits.
“We are up there with nurses. They”ve actually turned away some nurses there,” Thomas said. “They don”t want any nurses in the Smithville area right now.”
Emergency personnel are securing the area while search-and-recovery efforts continue.
“It”s always wonderful for people who want to help out after a disaster, but there are professionals looking for bodies, surveying the damage, helping those who are injured,” said Jan Ballard, director of the United Way of Lowndes County. “It”s not always safe for people to go into the area.”
“We”re spread thin right now,” said Thomas, noting her office has people in Webster, Chickasaw and Clay counties, as well as Monroe.
Lowndes County emergency personnel responded to Wren and Smithville Wednesday night, after storms swept the area.
Many, including Lowndes County Coroner Greg Merchant, remained in Smithville throughout the day on Thursday.
“(Wednesday) morning, they were doing search and rescue, and today, they are doing search and rescue as well,” Columbus-Lowndes Emergency Management Agency Director Cindy Lawrence said Thursday afternoon.
Columbus churches also are reaching out to surrounding counties and Tuscaloosa, which was ravaged Wednesday.
First United Methodist Church sent teams to Tuscaloosa and Smithville, to help set up shelters and distribute food and water.
The Columbus Church of Christ purchased coolers, toothpaste, toothbrushes and water, which was to be brought to the Smithville Church of Christ for distribution.
“I know this is just a small thing, but we were hoping to learn more this afternoon about things that they really need,” said Vicki Barksdale, church secretary, noting the congregation plans to help as much as they can.
Local schools are also helping, among them Heritage Academy Elementary. Sixth-grade students, their field trip to Chattanooga, Tenn., canceled Thursday, instead packed lunches and water to be sent to emergency workers in Tuscaloosa.
The Salvation Army in Columbus headed to Montpelier Wednesday afternoon, feeding from 50-75 people at Montpelier Baptist Church.
“And right now our canteen is headed to Tuscaloosa,” Salvation Army Capt. Bert Lind said Thursday afternoon.
The Salvation Army will continue relief efforts “until there is no longer a need,” Lind said. “That could be a day. It could be 10 months. It could be longer. That just depends on what is going on.”
“In 2002, it was three weeks right here in Columbus,” said Thomas. “That was the tornado that destroyed the MUW campus.”
The year before, straight-line winds caused heavy damage in Columbus, especially in the downtown area. In 2007, a tornado ripped into Caledonia, leveling homes and town and school buildings.
“Lowndes County was very lucky this time,” said Thomas. “There is devastation all around us — Clay, Chickasaw, Tuscaloosa, Monroe. It”s just all around us. This one time, we were spared, but our hearts go out to those who were affected. Smithville is just devastated.”
The old armory on Highway 6 in Amory is accepting donations of clothes, canned and other non-perishable foods, furniture and bedding, for victims of the storms.
Lind also suggests offering monetary donations to agencies helping with relief efforts.
“The devastation is so great and so spread out,” he said.
Bottled water drives also are a good idea, Thomas said.
“We always need water,” she said.
Water can be dropped off at the feeding site at Amory High and at First Baptist Church on First Avenue in Amory.
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