TORNADO
One year later
Oct. 20, 2019 is a date that will live forever in the history of Dallas. That night, an EF3 tornado hit the city and left carnage in its path. While the damage to the campus was the most visible to all students, the tornado’s impact was far, far greater. Houses were demolished and businesses wrecked. An entire community had to bond together and rebuild itself. One year after the storm, much progress has been made, but much is still yet to come. Below are the accounts of how a business, a family and a school have reconstructed after these devastating events.
‘St. Mark’s Strong’ emerged as the slogan for the past year, ever since the tornado hit the heart of our campus. One year has passed, and practically everything has changed, whether visible or not.
October 29, 2020
The ReMarker
10600
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School is recovering from upwards of $30 million in damages The tornado caused upwards of $30 million worth of damage to campus, including damage to roofing, the destruction of Hicks Gymnasium, loss of trees, light poles and much more. “The scope is really wide,” Associate Headmaster John Ashton said. “Most of the roofs have been repaired. On Orchid Lane, all those holly trees are planted now all along the fence line there.” With the destruction of Hicks Gymnasium and the tennis courts, administrators are taking this as a chance to reevaluate other portions of the athletics center, such as the natatorium. “With Hicks Gym in a blank slate, if you will, certainly conversations have begun about ‘would we do a new pool and start new as part of an athletic center?’” Ashton said. “[And it would still be a] competition gym space like we had before for volleyball, basketball and physical education classes.” Ashton estimates it should take two years before its completion. “You always give and take,” Ashton said. “Maybe it could be earlier. Maybe it can be a mid-year opening. Maybe because things fell in place more quickly. Maybe it’s right for two years. I would imagine 18 to 24 months of effort, for sure.” Throughout the past year, the school has been working through the damages that hit campus — a feat that could not have been possible without teamwork on campus. “Since Oct. 19 and Oct. 20, we’ve been in a constant state of problem solving and triage,” Ashton said. “Congratulations to the team effort it requires to be sitting here today, third week on campus. That didn’t just happen. It happens because of the work of so many people.” Ashton commended many different people and different teams for their non-stop work “We’re a team-oriented place,” Ashton said. “Mark Webb and the whole facilities team have just worked tirelessly to get the campus up and running.” He also highlighted Chief Financial Officer Suzanne Townsend’s work in ensuring that the insurance claims were handled properly. “Ms. Townsend, our CFO, has had the responsibility for weekly management of the insurance process with other partners that we’ve had,” Ashton said, “but she has really been managing weekly the assessments, the claim, the insurance navigating, the insurance proposals and then continuing that. Ashton acknowledged throughout the disasters hitting campus, the community has persevered through it all. “We’ve been through a lot together, but at the end of the day, it’s made us stronger, and we’ve really seen the strength of this community just come out in full, which is terrific.” STORY Jack Davis, Axel Icazbalceta, Will Pechersky PHOTOS Lars Ochs, Courtesy Genender family
DOORS CLOSED As a result of severe property damage, certain businesses in the Preston Royal Shopping Center decided to close their doors for good. One such business was Gazeebo Burger, a popular restaurant destination in the community. The Gazeebo Burger Plano location at 6009 W Parker Rd remains open.
$2 billion. That’s the dollar amount of the destruction caused. The Preston Hollow Central Market was one business that incurred significant structural damage.
Central Market expects return to business next spring Several businesses were left with great structural damage and a need to reconstruct. The Central Market on the southeast corner of the Preston Royal shopping center was one such store “The ceiling had a significant hole in the middle, primarily around our grocery and wine department,” Mabrie Jackson, director of public affairs at Central Market and H-E-B grocery stores, said. “There were numerous windows that were broken in front, the doors were blown out because the storm made a direct hit to the store. There was major damage to the back of the store. Our [employees’] cars that were on the side of the building and in the front were all damaged. And there was a lot of tree debris, like everybody experienced around the neighborhood.” Though there was much damage to the structure, the store will be able to rebuild and retain some of its key familiar architecture. The destruction also allowed Central Market to remap its floor plan for the benefit of customers. “The mid-century architectural design that is so well known with that store – the beautiful curvature of the ceiling – will all be intact,” Jackson said. “It will have a much more open feel to the store than it did before. The reconstruction is allowing us to reconfigure the flow a little bit and make it more inviting for our customers.” Some stores in the Preston Royal Shopping Center decided to permanently close. While Central Market laments such losses in the center, the closures gave them some extra space to expand their store. “We have a really great partnership with Regency, who is the landlord for that center,” Jackson said. “We’ve been working closely with them to help make sure that the tenants that were there before [remain]. We want to have a vibrant center. We look forward to seeing our neighbors back in the center.” For Central Market, the decision to keep its Preston Royal location was never up in the air. “That particular corner has been a major part of people’s lives if you’re a longtime Dallasite,” Jackson said. “We have a very loyal customer base. We can’t imagine not serving them, so it was never a question for us if we were coming back.” With the new additions to the store, the Preston Royal Central Market will open later than it would have if they had only rebuilt the previous location, but they anticipate a good reopening next year. “Our intent was to come back as fast as we could and we were hoping to come back before the holidays this year,” Jackson said, “but when the extra spaces became available, we decided it was best to finish the complete construction of the new space. so as to not open and then have to have construction again. We anticipate it to be April or May when we open up next year.”
Homes were destroyed, years of precious memories were lost, and families were left to find their own way in the new, terrifying aftermath of tornado destruction.
Family returns to their old home with a new face For the Genender family, senior Jack, sophomore George and parents Paul and Wendy, roof damage and broken glass made up the initial destruction to their home after the Oct. 20, 2019 tornado. However, the rain that came soon after caused most of the damage. “For us, it wasn’t even our stuff that was so damaged, necessarily,” Wendy Genender said. “It was the stuff that makes the house look pretty, like sheetrock and paint and floors. That was really the extent of it. It really wasn’t our furniture and clothing, different than other families.” After the tornado, the Genender family needed to find a new place to live for the time being. With the help of one of George’s classmates, sophomore Sal Hussain, they found a house to rent near the school within a couple days. “I was here doing something, and Sal was over here,” Paul Genender said. “I’m like, ‘Hey, Sal, what’s going on? What are you doing?’ He said, ‘I’ve got my drone up, and I’m taking pictures of people’s roofs to see if they’re damaged so I can help people and let them know if they’re damaged,’” Paul Genender said. “Where are y’all going to move?” Hussain said. “We need to find a place,” Paul Genender said. “My parents have a house on Waggoner that they might be trying to rent to a St. Mark’s family,” Hussain replied. “Sal, give me your mom’s cell phone number. I’m going to text her, but please call her and tell her not to rent that house to anyone until we talk,” Paul Genender said. Although their house has been repaired over the last year, lasting differences in the neighborhood still remain. “The house looks different because our backyard is missing a huge tree,” Paul Genender said. “Our front yard is missing the tree that was a signature of the house. Inside the house, everything’s newer and nicer and fresher and all that. But the biggest difference is the look of our street. All the houses that were going to be scraped have been scraped and a couple more.” Through the eight-month period away from their home, Paul Genender has gained a new perspective on the true value of the family’s belongings. “Things don’t matter,” Paul Genender said. “We still have a lot of stuff in storage, and occasionally it might stress me out that I don’t know where something is or maybe it’s in storage, but you really realize how little stuff you really need.” Wendy Genender found the unforgettable chapter in their lives as an opportunity for bonding. “It’s shared experience,” Wendy Genender said. “It’s a big deal in each of our lives in similar ways and in very different ways. You can’t help but feel connected because of that shared experience.”
