LAVISTA, WV (LOOTPRESS) – It has already been one week since the devastating EF2 tornado wreaked havoc on the small Fayette County community of Lavista, but the cleanup and rebuilding continue.
Despite the immense damage to homes and property, the residents of Lavista remain resilient and are keeping the faith no matter the challenge.
Gov. Justice and other state officials visited the town on Monday to survey the damage sustained from last Tuesday’s tornado and meet with first responders and victims of the tragedy.
Rick Lewis, Deputy Chief of the Nuttall Volunteer Fire Department, provided Gov. Justice and the media with an update on the recovery efforts.
He says the outpouring of support from the community was overwhelming with cleanup efforts expedited due to the level of support.
“We had over 100 people come in last Saturday with dump trucks, excavators [who were] locals,” Lewis said. “We had a cleaning job, we had people here feeding them, it was a well-oiled machine.”
He says that two homes in the community on Wednesday morning had salvageable items packed up and moved to storage within three hours thanks to nearly 75 volunteers.
Along with those two homes, multiple other households are displaced due to severe property damage.
“Right now we are over thirty homes damaged and nine [households displaced], seven which are probably completely destroyed.”
Lewis says most homeowners had insurance to cover the damages except for around two. Two more houses are scheduled for demolition this week.
Lewis also gave praise to surrounding fire departments which banded together to provide assistance during the aftermath of the unprecedented event.
“We [Nuttall VFD] are a county fire department, we have sixteen departments in this county and when one’s in need we’re all in need,” Lewis explained.
The Ansted/Hico/Lavista/Lookout community is special and the bond is like no other, according to Lewis.
“It’s different over here. Everybody can say that but we can honestly say that people just come together.”
Lewis explained that a federal disaster declaration for federal relief must meet a host of different requirements which can be difficult to do. He noted that Fayette County did not even qualify for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds following the 2016 floods.
West Virginia residents who suffered any type of storm damage during the April 2nd severe weather outbreak are encouraged to fill out a damage survey which can help in seeking federal relief.
Gov. Justice says the widespread damage caused by tornados and flooding in the state may better the chances of federal relief.
He also says he proposed $50 million in this year’s budget for state relief for these types of disasters but says the legislature failed to pass the proposal.
Nuttall VFD Chief Tommy Coleman was one of the individuals who lost their home last Tuesday. He told Gov. Justice that it was God who protected him and his family during the tornado.
“This man [Nuttall VFD Chief Tommy Coleman] is a hero, this man’s [Nuttall VFD Deputy Chief Rick Lewis] a hero,” Justice said. “[Chief Coleman’s] house is gone, and they’ll be some level of something he can’t be compensated for.”
“I’m going to put [an appropriation of $50 million] back on the call when we come back in May, but that ain’t gonna help you today,” Justice stated. “If we had just passed it in my budget we’d already have money coming your way right now.”
Following the tornado, needed supplies along with food were brought in. No supplies or food are currently needed.
GoFundMe’s have been started for multiple families affected and those links may be found below:
Eades & Campbell Family GoFundMe
The governor and 10th District Senators Vince Deeds (R) and Jack David Woodrum (R) toured the tornado damage along Lookout Road which stretched from Mallard Road to the north side of U.S. Route 60.
While touring the damage, Gov. Justice noticed Bradley Sheets playing basketball and stopped to give him some tips.
West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner (R) also toured the damage on Monday. He says he is thankful no one was killed or seriously injured and applauds the outpouring of community support in Lavista.
“It’s fascinating to hear the stories of the people firsthand, their survival stories from what they went through on that day,” Warner said. “Things like this car behind that has the nail impelled in it tells you the story of the power of the wind picking things up and thrusting them into things.”
Warner says the damage and stories are something you’d see in a movie after touring the home of Kay Persinger and Miranda and Jesse Crist and hearing their stories from that day.
“The entire garage was gone, you had Kay Persinger who was [inside] survived,” Warner stated. “The refrigerator and the freezer were blown down the street. It’s just beyond imagination, it’s like what you see in the movies.”
“The community pulling together, coming together, that’s true West Virginia,” Warner explained. “Not looking for any sort of compensation or anything else, just doing what needs to be done. Like cleaning up, cutting the trees, the restoration of the homes.”
Warner says he also hopes that federal dollars can be allocated for the residents of Lavista.
Warner also visited the home of Marla and Johnny Carte. Their home, which is over 100 years old, has been deemed a total loss along with their car.
They were home when the tornado hit but thankfully made it out alive with Johnny only suffering one minor injury.
Marla tells LOOTPRESS that they are set to rebuild in Lavista but in a different part of town.
Marla is a former cook for Fayette County Schools. Following Tuesday’s tornado, her fellow school cooks in Fayette County teamed up to raise funds for their former coworker by making and selling pepperoni rolls.
They sold several thousand within a day. Carte said she is overwhelmed with the amount of support received from her community.
Lavista is home to only one gas station. The small Sunoco station has been serving the community and travelers of U.S. Route 60 for decades.
It suffered major damage during the tornado and has remained closed since.
LOOTPRESS has been told that the owners plan to reopen the store whether that be to repair the current building or tear it down and rebuild.
The National Weather Service (NWS) has deemed the EF2 tornado that touched down in Lavista to have been 300 yards wide with a travel path of 1.18 miles long. Max winds were 130 MPH.
The LOOTPRESS Sky Cam was in the air on Monday which provided a better view of the path of the tornado.
The tornado nearly missed nearby Midland Trail High School. From where the NWS mapped the endpoint of the tornado, it was less than two miles from the school.
The football stadium suffered a couple of collapsed light poles during the same storm.
Despite the unexpected event last Tuesday, the community continues to come together to help their neighbor in a time of need and they continue to build back better than ever before.
