Neighbors Help

Neighbors help town look to future after devastation

By Neal Wagnernwagner@cdispatch.com

CALEDONIA- Lynyrd Skynyrd wrote “Troubles will come and they will pass,” in his 1973 song “Simple Man.”
Although music is probably the last thing on minds of the many Caledonia residents who had everything they owned destroyed by a tornado Thursday afternoon, they all seem to share Skynyrd's thoughts.
“Our building is gone, but our church is still here,” said Caledonia Church of Christ member Jennie Diermann as she looked at the pile of wood and bricks that was the church's sanctuary just days ago.
“The church is wounded, but we are certainly not dead,” she added.
She and everyone else in Caledonia Saturday seemed to have one goal - rebuild and move on.
Until the church building is rebuilt in what Diermann predicts will be about a year, the congregation will meet in the old Presbyterian church building on Main Street.
Across the street from the Church of Christ, the Caledonia United Methodist Church sustained some roof damage.
As a result, CUMC is holding its 11 a.m. worship service on its front steps today.
The congregation is inviting the entire community to the morning service, in hopes of helping people move past the disaster, which lasted a matted of minutes but will leave lasting marks on the town.
Civil Service
Hundreds of volunteers from many walks of life have descended on Caledonia since Thursday to help the goal of moving forward become a reality.
Power company employees were rushing to replace power lines, tow trucks were dragging crumpled cars out of town and hundreds of service-minded volunteers were helping families sift through the remains of their homes.
“You just wouldn't believe how many calls we have gotten,” said Diermann. “Not only have we had a very supportive congregation, but strangers we don't even know are here today helping us clean up.”
Among those volunteering time was Barry English from Center Hill Baptist Church in Hamilton. He and about 15 volunteers from other area churches were working Saturday to clear fallen trees and remove the Church of Christ's roof from its pulpit.
“Right now we are just taking things one day at a time,” said English. “I can't tell you how long it will take, but I can guarantee you we will have people out here every day until this mess is cleaned up.”
A few Columbus area waste management companies are also helping to clean up the mess.
Companies like Mississippi Industrial Waste Disposal, Go Box and Triangle Maintenance have been volunteering to haul large dumpsters to and from various cleanup sites throughout Caledonia.
MIWD President Hayden Crume brought four 22-foot industrial-size dumpsters to the Caledonia school campus Friday and returned Saturday to deliver one more to the schools and another to the Church of Christ.
“Ya'll just give me a call when this thing is full and I'll empty this one and bring you another one,” Crume told volunteers at the Church of Christ.
Like many other volunteers, Crume came to Caledonia without being asked and used what he had to help people he had never met.
“I just figured I would bring these boxes out here to help out as much as I could,” said Crume.
School Cleanup
At the Caledonia school campus, where much of the tornado's fury was unleashed, volunteers and Mississippi Emergency Management Agency employees worked beside tow trucks to clear a path through the wreckage.
“Right now the wreckers are towing smashed cars out of the parking lot so we can start clearing out some of the destroyed buildings,” said volunteer worker Jamie Mouchett.
Mouchett said crews had cleared many mangled cars from around the campus Friday but still had many more to go.
“Our main goal right now is getting the kids back in the classroom as soon as possible,” Mouchett added.
Brad Alexander, another volunteer worker, stood next to a mangled pickup truck as he gazed at the twisted steel beams that used to hold up the school's vo-tech building.
“I'm just glad all the kids were fine,” said Alexander. “It's amazing.”
Electricity and natural gas service was restored to the undamaged parts of the schools Saturday morning and will be tested all weekend to ensure safe operation, said Lowndes County School District Superintendent of Education Mike Halford.
There hasn't yet been a date set for classes to resume.
The storm has officially been declared a tornado by The National Weather Service.
The NWS is expected to release the tornado's Enhanced Fujuta Scale damage rating Monday; the storm has been rumored to be classified as an F-3.