May 13, 2008 12:56 am
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By Derek Spellman
dspellman@joplinglobe.com
Monday was a day for counting blessings and losses.
In Newtonia, some continued sifting through the ruins to see what could be salvaged. Some continued marveling at how they had survived and pondering the days ahead.
In an area north of Seneca, near Missouri Highway 43 and Iris Road, authorities announced that the death toll from the weekend storms had reached 14 in Newton County, and that preliminary estimates indicate 270 homes sustained major damage or were destroyed, according to Gary Roark, the county’s emergency management director.
“Newton County is crying today,” said Jerry Carter, presiding county commissioner, in an interview with the Globe.
Less than two days after a tornado tore through the area, residents of storm-ravaged areas on Monday started wrestling with questions about whether, when and how to rebuild, while volunteers and lawmakers poured in to help with cleanup and begin coordinating disaster relief.
Parts of Newtonia offered a vision of a war zone: canted utility poles, debris-covered lawns, splintered trees and shattered houses. In other parts, houses showed only roof and window damage.
Dee Wormington, mayor of Newtonia, spent much of Monday picking through the remains of City Hall. The structure was flattened by Saturday’s tornado, and the city had no insurance on the building, she said.
“We are hoping FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and SEMA (State Emergency Management Agency) can come through for us,” she said of rebuilding City Hall.
As neighbors combed the rubble of their homes, Wormington tried to salvage what she could from what had been the seat of local government. A coffee pot. Packs of shingles still in plastic. A few pictures. A bag of paper plates. A chair. Coils of copper wire.
Some residents hauled appliances from damaged houses. Other looked for any furniture that might be reused, as well as pictures and family mementos.
Wormington said 10 homes in the village were demolished by the storm, and 30 others sustained significant damage.
Not everyone has homeowner’s insurance, Wormington said, and even for those who do, there is an immediate need for supplies that range from building materials — plywood, tarps, nails and screws — to personal hygiene kits and diapers.
“We are a little town without a lot of resources,” she said. “We have no tax base. We have no industry.”
Among those homeowners without insurance is the son of Virginia Seward, who said her son’s trailer is likely uninhabitable. Seward’s home had roof and window damage but is otherwise intact.
Seward is a lifelong resident of Newtonia and lives across the street from the City Hall site. Her son lives next door, although he has been staying with a friend for the past two days.
“He’s still in shock,” Seward said when asked what her son planned to do next.
But Seward also was quick to point to how fortunate both she and the town were. Her son’s family was just about to flee in a vehicle when the tornado barreled through. They all survived unhurt, she said.
She then pointed at the wreckage of another house across the street. The nine people who crammed inside somehow survived, she said.
A crowd of about two dozen residents and their families met with U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt during his visit Monday to Newtonia.
Blunt briefly toured the Ritchey Civil War Mansion and then fielded questions from the residents, who sat on a fallen tree in front of the mansion. Most had queries about what kind of assistance could be provided by FEMA and how soon they would receive it.
Blunt said he expected a federal disaster declaration — which officially allows homeowners to begin seeking aid from FEMA and SEMA — would be made quickly. Renters and business owners can apply for aid through the Small Business Administration, he said.
It was a message similar to the one voiced by Gov. Matt Blunt, the congressman’s son, later Monday on the other side of Newton County.
Matt Blunt spoke with reporters, local government officials, emergency responders and victims at the intersection of Missouri Highway 43 and Iris Road — an area that saw the brunt of the storm.
“Unfortunately, I’ve had the opportunity to see a great deal of tornado damage across the state of Missouri after various events, but this is some of the worst I’ve seen,” the governor told reporters during a news conference.
It was during the same conference that authorities announced that Tyler Casey, 21, a volunteer firefighter with the Seneca Area Fire Protection District, had succumbed to the injuries he suffered while trying to warn several residents of the approaching tornado on Saturday. Casey’s death raised the number of storm fatalities in Newton County to 14.
Declarations sought
Gov. Matt Blunt is expected to tour storm-damaged areas today with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and with FEMA Administrator David Paulison, according to a release from the governor’s office. The visits are expected to be steppingstones to federal-disaster declarations.
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Photos
Globe/Roger Nomer
An aerial photo gives perspective to the widespread damage at a farm near Seneca. The assessment of damage from Saturday’s deadly and destructive storm front has only just begun.