{"id":598,"date":"2022-02-07T13:55:43","date_gmt":"2022-02-07T13:55:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/princetonillinois.com\/?p=598"},"modified":"2022-02-07T13:55:43","modified_gmt":"2022-02-07T13:55:43","slug":"nothing-but-devastation-marion-pastor-describes-mayfield-tornado-aftermath-the-southern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/princetonillinois.com\/?p=598","title":{"rendered":"'Nothing but devastation': Marion pastor describes Mayfield tornado aftermath – The Southern"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Princeton, Kentucky’s Shawn Hicks (right) directs family members and volunteers as they search for salvageable items in what is left of his home following Friday’s tornado.
Jason Thrash said it was like turning a corner. Literally.
Driving into a picturesque Princeton, Kentucky neighborhood \u2013 modern, two-story brick homes overlooking a golf course \u2013 he saw homes showing very little signs of storm damage; just a few roofs with some missing shingles, some limbs on the ground and some trash moving in the breeze.
It all looked pretty normal. That is until he pulled onto a different street.
\u201cYou drive up and you think, \u2018We must be in the wrong area because there\u2019s been no storm here,\u2019 then, all of a sudden, you top the hill or turn the corner and you see devastation. Nothing but devastation,\u201d he said.
Thrash, part of the pastoral team at Marion\u2019s Cornerstone church, has been making daily trips to Western Kentucky areas hit by Friday\u2019s tornadoes with supplies and teams of volunteers, working through churches in the area to identify families in need of assistance. He said he will always remember the change of perspective.
\u201cWhen you turn the corner and actually see the area of damage and you are able to perceive just how vast and how far it goes \u2013 as far you can see, there is damage. I\u2019ve been around tornadoes before, but I\u2019ve never seen anything like this,\u201d he said.
At least five tornadoes swept through Western Kentucky, leaving at least 74 dead and destroying more than 1,000 structures.
Thrash and his team was on their way to help the Hicks family of Princeton, a community of 6,300 about 12 miles east of Eddyville and Interstate 24. Most of the family was away from home when the tornado struck. One child and his grandmother survived by taking shelter in the basement.
\u201cThe tornado pulled the ceiling off of most of the basement, but it didn\u2019t pull it off of that bedroom,\u201d Thrash reported.
Volunteers from Marion’s Cornerstone Church survey damage in a Princeton, Kentucky neighborhood following Friday’s tornado.
The rest of the house was gone.
\u201cSince then I\u2019ve tried to use Google Maps to see what it used to look like, but I couldn\u2019t figure out which house it was because I had no idea what to look for,\u201d Thrash said. \u201cThis was a solid brick home. I know it had a huge brick fireplace because we\u2019ve been picking up those bricks. There wasn\u2019t a single wall standing except for a three-foot section that had some plumbing in the wall. That was the only part of the structure that was left.\u201d
Thrash said one family used to own a large box trailer, filled with lawnmowers.
\u201cAll that was left was one door in the top of a tree and three pieces of aluminum wrapped around a tree. They don\u2019t know where the rest of the trailer is,\u201d he said.
Nearby, the storm ripped the sod off the golf course.
Thrash said his team even had trouble finding the exact location of the Hicks\u2019 home.
\u201cThey told us to look for a certain car and a truck,\u201d Thrash recalled. \u201cWe found them in a pile out front, but turns out we were at the wrong house; everything just looks the same, everywhere.\u201d
He said teams from the church are not only transporting donated supplies, but they are also helping victims in rummaging through debris, looking for salvageable items, mementos and memories.
Thrash said the residents are grateful for help.
\u201cI heard one man say, \u2018I don\u2019t even know these people, and here they are, going through my personal things.\u2019 But then he said he was glad they were there because he didn\u2019t know how they\u2019d get it done with the volunteers,\u201d he explained.
He called the work \u201coverwhelming.\u201d
\u201cEven after working four or five hours, you feel like you haven\u2019t done anything because everything looks the same. There is just stuff everywhere and you have to figure out what to do with it. You just start making piles.\u201d
Thrash and others from the church \u2013 as well as congregations from across the region \u2013 continue to do what they can to help victims in Plainfield, Mayfield and other Kentucky communities.
\u201cWe are just happy to help in any way we can. This is an opportunity for us to be the hands and feet of Jesus. If this were to happen in Marion, we hopefully would have people come and help us. We\u2019re all just one big family and when someone is in need to jump in and do what you can,\u201d he said.
A drone view of the path a tornado took through parts of Edwardsville from Brockmeier Sod Farm to the Glen Echo subdivision after it hit the Amazon warehouse on Friday. Video by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com<\/a>
This is the front page of The Southern Illinoisan from May 30, 1982. A tornado ripped through the region the day before, killing 13 people and injuring more than 200.\u00a0
The tornado touches down near Williamson County Airport on May 29, 1982.
Rescue workers sift through the rubble at the Shawnee Apartments on the west side of Marion on May 29, 1982. Workers were looking for a reported four missing.
A Shawnee Apartment Complex survivor looks through the ruins of his apartment for anything salvageable after a tornado hit May 29, 1982.\u00a0
People look through the rubble of a home in Energy ruined by the tornado that hit May 29, 1982.
An aerial photo shows the damage done to the Town and Country Shopping Center on the west side of Marion after a tornado ripped through the region on May 29, 1982.
The May 29, 1982, tornado also hit Conant, a Perry County community about five miles southwest of Pinckneyville. The twister tore through this home, dumping a car into the basement.
An aerial photo shows Reynolds Market and a building burning in Carterville after a tornado rolled through the region on May 29, 1982.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Friday night\u2019s devastating tornado in Western Kentucky touched the SIU football family. <\/p>\n

Allen Ninness, director of Saline County Emergency Management Agency, said donors need to be smart to help tornado victims. Like the people of Harrisburg, those affected by Friday\u2019s tornadoes will need many things, as well as volunteer help, for many weeks.<\/p>\n

Two weeks away from Christmas people across southern Illinois came together to gather supplies, raise money and donate toys for the Mayfield families affected by the worst tornado in Kentucky history.<\/p>\n

Traveling through Candy Cane Lane this year is a little different. The displays created by the late Tim Murphy and his art students at Frankfort High School are at the city park this year.<\/p>\n

Here’s a list of ways you can assist families on the ground in places like Mayfield, Kentucky and Dresden, Tennessee as they recover and rebuild from the Dec. 10 tornadoes.
Princeton, Kentucky’s Shawn Hicks (right) directs family members and volunteers as they search for salvageable items in what is left of his home following Friday’s tornado.
Volunteers from Marion’s Cornerstone Church survey damage in a Princeton, Kentucky neighborhood following Friday’s tornado.
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Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter.Princeton, Kentucky’s Shawn Hicks (right) directs family members and volunteers as they search for salvageable items in what is left of his home following Friday’s tornado.Jason Thrash said it was like turning a corner. Literally.Driving into a picturesque Princeton, Kentucky neighborhood \u2013 modern, two-story brick homes overlooking a golf course \u2013 he saw homes showing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t