After a severe 80 mph storm ripped through Kent County in western Michigan earlier this month, a trail of fallen trees and crushed homes were left in its wake.
But here’s proof that every storm cloud has a silver lining. As FOX17 reports, a band of concerned community members — many who were once perfect strangers — came together in this time of need.
After setting up a Facebook page, “The Helping Hands ~ Kent County Residents Helping Those in Need,” the group organized clean-up events and has also gone door-to-door asking affected residents if they need any help with clearing the destruction.
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“That was so amazing that all these people came out to help my parents. My dad is beside himself, had recently suffered from a heart attack only a month ago,” Kent County resident Kristina Lucas said on Facebook. “I see how distraught he is wanting to help, or just the look on his face seeing his beautiful landscaping he spent so many hours all summer long just turn to shreds from the damage of the recent tornado. I can’t thank you guys enough for everything everyone has done to help.”
But perhaps the best news, according to FOX17, is that the group feels so inspired by helping others that they hope to continue doing good deeds even after the cleanup is finished.
If you also want to participate in west Michigan’s storm relief, you can text HELPWM to 36729. With storm season underway in many parts of the country, the more helping hands, the better.
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Tag: tornado
Here’s a Team of Students Who Built a Green Home That Can Take On Tornadoes
After a natural disaster strikes, repairing or rebuilding a home can take years. And in times of need — like when there’s no roof over your head — speed is of the utmost importance.
Back in 2011, in response to the devastating tornado that hit Streator, Illinois, a team of students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Chapman designed a sustainable, modular home that could be set up in just a few hours. (Amazing, right?) That year, their design — called the Re_home — took home several awards and placed second in the prestigious U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon.
Flash forward a few years. Now, this school project may be put towards real world use. As the University of Illinois wrote in a recent newsletter, with the help of nonprofit organization Habitat for Humanity, Re_homes will be set up in Gifford, Illinois, a community that’s still picking up the pieces after a monster twister ripped through the town this past November.
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Re_homes are affordable, safe, and even environmentally responsible. As Mother Nature Network reported, they are tricked out with solar rooftops and have energy-saving features such as tripled-paned windows, a conditioning energy recovery ventilator (CERV), and a solar shading canopy.
Habitat for Humanity is reportedly still working out the details of these homes, but once they go up, it will certainly allow for towns like Gifford — and perhaps future disaster-stricken areas — rebuild and recover.
How a Tornado-Stricken Town Became a Model of American Sustainability
Imagine that one day your town exists. Then, the next day, it doesn’t. That was the terrifying reality for residents of a small town located on the great plains of Kansas.
In May 2007, a devastating category EF5 tornado effectively destroyed Greensberg, Kansas. The storm flattened about 95 percent of the town’s homes and businesses and left 11 people dead and more than 60 injured. Like many communities devastated by natural disasters, Greensberg residents were determined to rebuild. But instead of just recreating the rural farm town that existed just days prior, they decided instead to look toward the future. In the process, this small rural farm town of around 777 people has become a model of sustainability.
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At the first meeting after disaster struck, town-resident-turned-community-organizer Daniel Wallach proposed rebuilding the town as a “model green community,” according to USA Today. Then-mayor Lonnie McCollum and then-governor Kathleen Sebelius (current U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services) agreed, and before long most of the town’s citizens were on board. Eight short months after the tornado leveled the town, the Greensburg City Council adopted a resolution stating that all large public buildings must meet LEED-platinum standards and utilize renewable energy sources. Everything from the new City Hall to the Kiowa Memorial Hospital to the local John Deere dealership were redesigned and built as the sustainable ideal. But that was just the beginning.
The wind that always blows through Greensburg now powers the town, as turbines can be found on farms, in residential neighborhoods and throughout the business community — even at the aforementioned John Deere dealership. Also, a large wind farm sits just outside of town. Inspiringly, the town creates more than enough energy to power the community, and as such, sells its surplus back to the grid. The streetlamps that line the streets are all LED—reducing energy costs even more. And local businesses have thought up innovative ways to be even more sustainable — from Centerea Bank, which absorbs stormwater with its own bioswale (a landscape element) to the John Deere dealership, which stores waste oil to heat the business in the winter.
Greensburg is not only a model for sustainability, but it also serves as a resource,too: Officials consult with other towns that have been ravaged by disaster to help them consider greener ways to rebuild, as well as cities that are just looking for a more sustainable future.
In this situation, Greensburg discovered that the grass really is greener on the other side.
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Six-Year-Old Saves Family From Tornado
Six-year-old Brevin Hunter’s astuteness in class paid off in a big way recently. The Illinois boy learned about tornado warning protocols in class, and as a result, urged his mother to head to the basement when he heard tornado sirens while playing on his XBox. Since the sky looked clear at the time, his mother thought it was a false alarm, but he was relentless. After finally giving in, the Hunter family went underground, and took the necessary precautions. A short time later, an EF-4 tornado with estimated wind speeds of up to 190 miles per hour slammed into their home, destroying it beyond repair. His mother credits him for saving their lives, and says she wouldn’t have gone downstairs if he hadn’t been so adamant about taking safety.