JASPER, Ind. (WEHT)- Nearly a week after an EF-3 tornado tore through Sullivan, Indiana, killing three people, a church in Dubois County is helping survivors cope. Redemption Christian Church in Jasper partnered with Helping His Hands and sent volunteers to the town on Thursday.
“It is a gut-punch, total devastation,” says Steve Fleck, one of the church elders who went to volunteer.
Sullivan is just under a hour and a half away from Jasper. Nine people volunteered, including Fleck and one of the ministers, Ryan Stiles.
“It literally took a woods and set it in this person’s yard. I have never seen anything like it,” Fleck says.
The team started their day in downtown Sullivan before driving to help a resident with debris.
“At the residence we went to, the house was literally twisted off of its foundation. I am talking about a two-story brick home…humongous trees were either twisted or down in the area,” Stiles says.
Stiles says they cleaned up the resident’s yard as much as they could before going to help a farmer
“A couple of fields had debris spread out throughout it so we separated metal and wood, basically 2 X 4’s, and other things scattered in the field,” Stiles says.
Even when faced with the destruction, the team says they saw God at work. Fleck says a random man came up to them and asked if he could help.
“You could tell that he had a piece of equipment and he just came up and said ‘Use me how you will…’ a real humble guy. And I thought man, that is what it is all about,” Fleck says.
The church is planning to send another team in the coming weeks. Details will be released when the plans are finalized.
