“We just started praying!”

That’s how one victim said she reacted as the sky grew dark and the wind began to howl. 

An unusually warm February afternoon turned into a deadly mass of carnage and destruction as a tornado struck a small trailer court in rural eastern Kentucky.  Strewn across what once was their neighborhood are bits and pieces of their lives.  Twisted metal, broken pieces of furniture, shredded clothing litter the ground and trees. 

The tornado, now classified by the National Weather Center in nearby Jackson [Kentucky] as an F1 with winds up to 112 mph and straight-line winds in excess of 100 mph, struck the rural community on Saturday at approximately 4:30 in the afternoon.  The storm left two people dead and eight people injured, half of them children.  Six mobile homes were completely destroyed. 

The trailer court was located just on the line between Lee and Breathitt counties.  Both Kentucky counties are listed as America’s Poorest Rural Counties from analysis of the 2000 U.S. Census.  There are very few local resources to come to the aid of these families in distress.

News reports say the tornado stayed on the ground for approximately 100 yards – just enough time to destroy homes and lives.  The victims leave behind families and neighbors grieving their loss.

CAP’s Operation Relief, a component of Operation Sharing, is on the scene now evaluating the needs and bringing in resources to help these families and the community begin the recovery process.  Your support of the Christian Appalachian Project and Operation Relief makes this outreach possible.  And it means so much to these who are suffering.

Please keep these families and the work CAP does in your prayers.  Working together, and with God’s grace we can make a difference.