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Reconnecting with tornado survivors

Joined
May 2, 2010
Messages
211
Location
Springfield, IL
This may be kind of an odd question for Stormtrack, but I figured what better place to find people who have experience dealing with tornadoes and their aftermath, so here goes...

Yesterday I learned that some old friends of mine lost their home in the Washington IL tornado. I used to work with the husband at a small newspaper about 25 years ago, and I was a regular customer at the wife's hair salon until I moved to Springfield in 2005, after which I totally lost touch with them until this week.

After the tornado I sent an e-mail to the work address of the husband asking how they were doing. I got a reply yesterday saying they would send a longer message when they could, that they "lost everything" and they survived in their basement.

I feel really bad for them and I'd like to do something nice for them, like get a small Christmas gift that they could really use. However, I know that in cases like this survivors often get inundated with more donations than they can use, while other things may be overlooked. If you or anyone you know has been in their situation, do you have any suggestions?

Also, my husband and I lived in Washington when we were first married and when our daughter was born (she just turned 18!) so we are familiar with the area. We know that the neighborhood where our old house is did NOT get hit, but many other places that were once part of our daily life did, and we are curious about the extent of the damage. We'd like to go up there and see it but we don't want to get in the way or be "lookie-loos" or gawkers. When is it appropriate to visit a tornado-stricken community if you are not either a resident, related/friends of a resident, or an active recovery volunteer or worker?
 
I'd check the local media outlet's and their websites about the damage. It's probably documented.

I for one am not comfortable coming into a town that's recently had a disaster unless I have a specific reason or connection to it. I stayed out of Williamston, MI for about 10 days when it had an EF2 come through in 2007, and heck, I grew up there, and my folks were still there. (I did call them every day.)

I suppose calling the city offices might give you an idea of what people are needing. Maybe one of the local churches? In fact, if your friends are church goers and you know what church they attend, the pastor (rabbi...) may know exactly what they need.
 
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