Amish Life After the Tornado

The CPR3 team arrived 6:45 AM. November 16^th, 2005 at the Dinky's auction house located in the heart of Amish country. Dinky's became the command center for disaster relief in Daviess County, Indiana. The day before, a 1/4 mile wide category 3 tornado ripped through about 8 miles of country side destroying homes and businesses most of which belonged to the Amish.

The CPR3's members first assignment from the Sheriff's department was to do search and rescue. Search and rescue was stopped the night before, but was picked back up at first day light. The amazing thing is, not a single person died as a result of the tornado. Only one elderly lady in her 90's was taken to an Evansville hospital and is still in intensive care at the time of this writing. Only minor cuts, scratches and bruises accounted for the rest of the injuries.

As the day unfolded many stories of hope began to emerge. One miracle that stands out is that of K and K Industries ( manufacturer of building trusses ). Approximately 120 employees were sent home early, one half hour before the tornado struck. If this didn't happen many lives could have been lost, because the tornado completely destroyed K & K Industries.

The temperature of the day remained in the thirties, and already the Amish folks were busy cleaning things up. Tearing off damaged roofs, burning brush piles, cleaning up debris in the fields. The women were busy cooking meals in the homes that were left undamaged for those who were working out of doors. When they were finished cooking, the women and children joined in with the men cleaning things up.

Jeff Johnson, the director of CPR3 shares his experience. "One thing you learn when working disasters is that there is a process for how people go about getting their lives back on track. That idea doesn't work when it comes to Amish. Amish don't seem to collect many of the things that others do, like figurines, paintings, antiques, family pictures, even the multi colored plastic children toys, no TVs, VCRs, Game Boys, stereos, videos, DVDs, computers, printers, and jewelry. As a result, they spent very little time rummaging through their things trying to find whate we would consider valuables. They jumped right into rebuilding their homes and buildings. Another interesting thing I noticed is that none of the Amish were waiting for FEMA or any insurance companies to come around to inspect things before getting started. Most of the time they are self-insured, and the Amish community picks up the bill. Thus there was no need to hand out tarps like we had at other disasters. Tarps were used to protect things until agencies could assess the damage. The Amish were quickly tearing off roofs while we were inspecting things that morning. By the time we began taking them hot meals for lunch, prepared back at Dinkys, they had their roofs off and ready to be put back on. If we didn't get the meals to them before their normal lunch time, they wouldn't need our food because the women had them fed already. However, they were happy to receive the delivered meals because they were able to continue working.

By the time supper came around we knew to get them their meals early. Some of the roofs were already being shingled, second story homes with the second floor destroyed had their second floors back on. Homes that weren't completely destroyed by the storm were cleaned up into piles and burning. Their foundations were cleaned off and walls were already going up. It was amazing!

I talked to one of the men in charge of the emergency management back at the command center, who also lives among the Amish. I used the term disaster in reference to what happened in the community. He looked at me and asked, 'What disaster? This is not a disaster for the Amish, it is an event, just like a barn raising.' Yes, but how could so many Amish homes and barns be raised and repaired so fast. We're talking approximately a hundred homes and other buildings. We learned later that Amish were coming in from all around the country to help. Some would stay with family or friends, and others were put up free by the Gasthof Amish Village hotel. I was simply amazed, and my hope for humanity was inspired."

Jeff and some CPR3 members were a part of the relief effort in Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina. "On the way home that evening I considered the contrast of what we saw down in Waveland, Mississippi, or in New Orleans, and more recently down in Evansville and Newburg, Indiana, where five to six hundred homes had been destroyed by a tornado. Would there be a need for FEMA or insurance companies if every one operated like the Amish? There are definitely some lessons we can learn from the Amish culture. The Amish maintain values that I believe a lot of Americans are losing sight of; things such as honesty, work ethic, humiltiy, trust in God. While surveying the state of Christian America in my mind and considering the contrast, I wondered if my earlier hopes for humanity were merited."

Though the Amish are taking care of things better than most under the same circumstances, money for these folks to buy materials would be a great help. One family lost their cabinet shop to a fire three months ago. The community had it back up in a week only for it to be completely destroyed again in this tornado. If you would like to help the Amish, CPR3 has setup a fund for the people (Amish and non-Amish) devastated by the November 15^th tornado. Mark your monetary donation "Amish", and 100% will go to help re-build the community.