VIM Trip 2012 to Henryville, Indiana

Henryville, Indiana

October 6 to October 20, 2012

See Our Photos Here

See Ray's Trip Report

A disaster response construction team was formed to help repair or replace private homes destroyed by a tornado in the Henryville, Indiana area. Your efforts helped rebuild family lives by putting them back in their homes where they belong.

You can make an online donation to our VIM team here.
 

The Tornado's Effects
On Friday, March 2, 2012, dozens of tornadoes blew through the Midwest and the South, flattening homes and businesses, disrupting power and communications utilities and killing about 320 people in Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana Georgia, and Virginia.

The monster multi-vortex EF-4 tornado with winds up to 175 MPH which ripped through Henryville, Indiana left people reeling and nearby three people were killed. For several days there was no electricity and all phone service, landline as well as cellular, was nonexistent. The tornado destroyed 30% of the three-school complex in Henryville and heavily damaged the rest, leaving about 1.200 students, over a dozen of them now homeless, without classroom space. Many TV news programs showed photos of school buses pushed into buildings.

Three days later, heavy snow fell which severely hampered the clean-up efforts.  There are many stories from the twister.

The High School band teacher’s car was found inside the library. A dog was rescued from house rubble several days later. Jeremy Sweeney helped his neighbors evacuate before the tornado hit. A woman and her daughter decided to leave their home at his insistence, and the house was later blown off its’ foundation and came to rest about 70 feet away. A man one street away died, but everyone on Jeremy’s street survived.

Be a part of our church’s disaster ministry and join us in our efforts to help some of the most vulnerable recover.