Farmington UMC Helps In Tornado Relief

Man Says Area Is ‘Utter Devastation’

FARMINGTON — Jonathan King of Farmington helped his grandparents search through the remains of their Vilonia home, following the tornado that struck central Arkansas on April 27.

This is the second time his grandparents have lost their home to a tornado. Their home was destroyed three years ago.

King said he helped his grandparents three years ago and returned to help them again. The damage to the Vilonia community from the April 27 tornado was much greater this time, he said.

“But to go this time, it was 10 times as bad,” King said. “I expected destruction and damage but not to the extent of the damage I saw when I drove into town.”

King and Troy Conrad, pastor of Farmington United Methodist Church, went down last week to

help survivors pick up the pieces.

Conrad said their purpose was to “help survivors find mementos of their past and hope for the future.”

King’s grandparents were in Houston when the storm struck Vilonia. They had made a spur of the moment trip to take a friend to see her son in Houston.

He shared an amazing story from the tornado. A week after the tornado, his grandparents received a photo from someone in Pocahontas, about 150 miles away. It was a photo of King’s daughter that had been in his grandparent’s living room.

The photo was found in the person’s front yard, water logged, with a few tears but basically in tact, King said. The photo had his wife’s photography logo on the back and the person was able to locate the owner of the picture through that logo. Along with the photo, the Pocahontas resident sent a letter, a $20 gift card and a $500 check, money collected from friends and family.

King said he helped his grandparents for two days and then helped members of Vilonia United Methodist Church who lost homes from the tornado.

He said the area will need help for a long time.

“If I could afford to get off work, I’d go again in a heartbeat,” King said. “I had a personal reason for going but it turned into more while I was down there.”

Jerry and Julie Moody, also members of Farmington UMC, helped Vilonia and Mayflower residents as part of a Care ministry through the Arkansas Conference of the United Methodist Church. They are trained to provide emotional and spiritual help to residents affected by disaster and to help people find resources.

“Primarily, it’s listening and providing emotional support,” said Julie Moody. “We are volunteers who are trained to listen to their concerns and needs. They’ve experienced loss and one thing they want to do is to talk about their experiences.”

Jerry Moody said they walk around the homes and neighborhoods and make themselves available to people in need.

He described the area as “utter devastation.”

Julie Moody added, “It’s unbelievable how much is gone.”

Conrad has led disaster relief trips on almost every tornado that has hit Arkansas in the past 10 years. He said the April 27 tornado was beyond words.

“There is no precedent for the sheer amount of destruction,” Conrad said. “The city and state response times were above excellent, but the large area that was hit was mind boggling.”

Conrad is an Early Response Trainer for the United Methodist Committee on Relief, an international agency which provides disaster relief services. The Arkansas Conference has six disaster relief trailers and one is in Farmington under Conrad’s guidance.

“When a disaster strikes we try to be some of the first people on the scene,” Conrad said. “We cannot do first responder work but what we can do is be with the survivors, pray with them and give them hope for the future.”

Anyone who would like to consider volunteering in the areas or taking up donations, send an email to: disaster@ arumc.org or call 870-7038359. Another contact/phone number to get information on helping is Rubicon, 501-2598894.