Lincoln volunteers help tornado-battered South

The destruction may be extreme, but in some small way, the cities and towns affected by intense storms in early December are a bit better off thanks to the American Red Cross.

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – The destruction may be extreme, but in some small way, the cities and towns affected by intense storms in early December are a bit better off thanks to the American Red Cross.

Volunteer Patty Morgan says, “Knowing that there was help, or that they were going to rebuild, or survive, or whatever. I hope we left them with that.”

Morgan has been with the Red Cross for years, but this was her first deployment, out of state or otherwise. She says it won’t be her last.

“It touched my heart”, Morgan says. “This will become my new mission. If they call me, if at all possible, I will go.”

Morgan was just across the border in Tennessee, directing people to resources and issuing financial assistance. A little further north, in Kentucky, Pat Stehly was hard at work on her tenth (or so) deployment.

Stehly recalls the early stages of this trip: “That was maybe the third day after it happened, so they’re desperate. Just to put a warm meal in their belly, and their families… You know, they’ve got no food, very little shelter; that means a lot to them.”

Stehly spent around 2 weeks helping people in the Mayfield, Kentucky area. Even though she’s been on many disaster scenes before, this one stands out in particular.

“I don’t know how that will ever be cleared out”, she says. “Yes, they had the great big old bulldozers and things already at work, but the size of it… I don’t know how… I don’t know how they can ever get back on their feet.”

It may be hard, but thanks to the work of people like Patty Morgan and Pat Stehly, the survivors of this destruction are in a bit better shape than they would be otherwise. And while these two women had their own unique experiences, their takeaway is the same: this is important work, and they need all the help they can get.

You can learn more about the American Red Cross and its activities here on the site’s Southeast Nebraska page.