CAPTION: Workers repair a downed street light in Plevna Thursday afternoon following the Saturday night EF-3 tornado which ripped through the town late Saturday. CREDIT MICHAEL GLENN/THE HUTCHINSON TRIBUNE
By Michael Glenn
PLEVNA – Plevna resident David Green watched the weather worsen into severe thunderstorms and eventually an EF-3 tornado late Saturday night, something he didn’t expect to do that day.
Green is the pastor of Plevna Community Bible Church and is a member of the Plevna City Council. He said he never expected to have to set off the tornado sirens and also didn’t want to cry wolf by sirening too early. He added he and another Plevna council member decided to set off the tornado sirens.
“We had a very long notice,” Green said. “It was heading right our way the whole time. It just kept coming. When we saw that it was 30 minutes out we decided to set off the sirens.”
“Thankfully, Ty kept doing it,” Green said. “The fact it kept going, that’s when they needed to get to shelter.”
After the sirens began going off, Green said he was in the church’s basement with about 20 other people. He also ran to his home, right next to the church, to wake his wife and children to get them to shelter.
“We got down to the basement and huddled in place. I heard a loud crash upstairs and got smacked with some insulation,” Green said. “We could feel the pressure in our ears.”
Even while the tornado ripped through the town, Green said the event only felt like “it lasted two seconds.”
“If it was any slower, a lot of the houses would have been gone,” Green said.
The tornado moved at around 35 mph on its course, originally forming near Greensburg. Greensburg experienced a devastating tornado of its own in 2007 when an EF-5 tornado reduced much of the town to rubble.
Green said he had friends who lived in Greensburg at the time of their tornado. He said he learned valuable advice from them that he was able to use during Plevna’s tornado.
“One thing they emphasized as the first thing you need to do is grab shoes,” Green said.
The tornado late Saturday night saw no injuries or deaths, something Green calls “miraculous.” He said a large factor into the safety of Plevna residents was the extended warning about the possibility and then reality of a tornado.
“That was really helpful. It saved a lot of lives,” Green said. “This is a kind of storm that would’ve killed everyone in the 1900s without warning. It was in the middle of the night”
After the weather had settled, Green left the church basement and saw his house had been completely lost, one of the few buildings in the town that saw complete destruction. Other homes had significant damages and others had minimal damage.
Then began the cleanup.
“There’s been an army of people who have helped us,” Green said. “An army of skid-steers and people with chain saws, that was amazing. There’s been a lot of help out here.”
Those affected by the tornado are able to grab essential supplies in what is temporarily called the “grocery store.” Residents are able to grab food, water, toiletries and other items to help them rebuild and regroup without charge. Three meals a day are also offered for free.
Other ways of helping the city of Plevna have also begun. Rhonda Schaffter owns and operates The Village Place in Arlington. She lives two miles away from Plevna. She said she wasn’t able to hear the tornado, despite devastating weather wrecking only two miles away from her home.
The only damage she suffered were a few downed tree limbs. The first day the salon was open after the tornado, Schaffter said her first client wanted to help those in Plevna.
“There’s a lot of Venmo going on, but we had clients who wanted to donate,” Schaffter said. “There’s a lot of elderly people who live there. There’s a list on Facebook of a bunch of people and the families who have been affected. I keep hearing more and more people who have been affected by it and it’s crazy.”
Schaffter started a donation box for those who enter the salon who wish to help out. Schaffter said the box will be given to someone to disperse the funds to Plevna residents.
In an interview Thursday afternoon, Green was raking his backyard near the church with around 20 people helping at the scene. A former marine, Green said a few of his fellow marines were what he called “preppers,” those who prepared for the worst at all times.
“A number of my fellow marines talked about a ‘go’ bag. I always kind of mocked them, but now I see the wisdom of that. It took me a day to find a pair of socks,” Green said.
Green encouraged all people to have a “go” bag full of at least two to three days worth of essential items in the case of a disaster or emergency.
