IBDR ministers to Crawford Co. tornado victims

Robinson | Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief (IBDR) volunteers were called out to serve in Crawford County after a system of strong storms and tornadoes tore through the Midwest and South on March 31, killing at least 32 people. Four of those who died were in Illinois—one in Belvidere where the roof collapsed on a theater full of concert goers and three in Robinson. Thirty IBDR volunteers ministered in the hard-hit towns of Robinson and Salem.

IBDR State Director Arnold Ramage, who lead the relief efforts, said they saw everything “from minor house damage to complete destruction. Some houses no longer exist.”

The teams included damage assessors, chainsaw crews, a feeding unit, laundry/shower trailer, and chaplains. According to the National Weather Service, the tornado that struck Crawford Country was an EF-3 with top wind speeds of 155 miles per hour.

One of the tornado victims was an elderly woman in Robinson. Ramage said IBDR was able to speak with her son-in-law who lived across the street from the deceased woman. He shared that he was a Christian, as his mother-in-law had been, and a colonel in the Army Reserve. Having served in Desert Storm and other actions, the man had seen and experienced many things but, “when it’s family it’s much worse.”

Ramage explained the woman’s home “had been picked up and thrown approximately 500 feet, and that’s where they found her. We were able to go to the homeplace and move trees that were damaged.”

Glen Carty, IBDR Logistics Director, spoke with the woman’s daughter who told him “Every time she looked out her window, she would think about what had happened to her mother.” By removing the trees, she told Carty that the IBDR volunteers “brought her some comfort.”

“Things like that affect us,” Carty said. “The team came in that night, and they were still kind of emotional themselves.”

Highland Avenue Baptist Church in Robinson served as homebase for the feeding team which fed the volunteers. The teams completed 28 jobs over four days, wrapping up work just in time for Easter weekend.