Having grown up in North Texas, I’m no stranger to the destructive force of tornados.
I remember when an F3 tornado barreled through downtown Fort Worth in March of 2000, causing $450 million dollars of damage in under ten minutes. As a child, I developed a strong sense of respect for tornadoes, which persists to this day. I’ve often wondered – what does the aftermath of a tornado look like for the people who are left to pick up the pieces?
To answer that question, I sat down with Jon Hoffman for a first-hand account. In 2023, Jon was involved in a disaster relief effort after an F3 tornado ripped through his friend’s neighborhood in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Jon recalls immediately checking in on his friends in the area after the storm system had moved through Little Rock.
“One guy, Trey, popped into the group chat,” said Jon. “He’s like, ‘My house is still standing, but my entire neighborhood is wrecked.”
Jumping at the opportunity to help a friend in need, Jon said goodbye to his wife and kids, and linked up with several mutual friends who would also be helping in the relief effort.
Getting to Trey’s house proved more difficult than expected. Some roads were impassable due to fallen trees and power lines. Many of the usable roads were gridlocked. Jon finally made it to Trey’s neighborhood at nightfall.
“The major affected areas didn’t have power,” said Jon. “That first night, you could just hear transformer substations popping all night, just blowing up.”
Aside from police who had set up checkpoints in the area, there was no organized municipal response immediately following the tornado. According to Jon, the only official workers who responded on the first night came from gas utility companies.
“As giant trees got pulled over by the tornado,” said Jon, “those root balls at the bottom were just destroying natural gas lines, and you could just smell natural gas everywhere.”
It’s a stark, real-world reminder that knowing how to shut off your natural gas in a crisis is critical.
After checking in with Trey, Jon and their group of mutual friends got to work clearing fallen trees in the neighborhood. It was difficult work in the dark, but they made progress through the night and took turns catching a few hours of much-needed sleep.
On top of the natural disaster, Jon and his friends worried about security threats. Little Rock, Arkansas has a high-crime rate even on a good day. Looting had been an issue during past disasters.
“There was a lot of concern, ” said Jon. “The power is out in the entire area, no one’s up moving around. And as I was coming out to talk to the guys, to switch who was going to go to bed, this up-armored National Guard Humvee just rolls down the street. I’m like, that’s kind of crazy. I didn’t think it was that bad here. That’s concerning.”
Throughout the first night, Jon questioned the value of clearing fallen trees from residential driveways. He felt that there were more important issues that needed to be addressed.
“This house has a fallen tree through the living room,’ recalled Jon. “Why are we picking up a bunch of heavy logs and clearing out this driveway? And I found out that that’s the most important thing you can do immediately. If you don’t have that driveway clear, when that homeowner comes back tomorrow, they’re going to park on the street. And when you have a ton of vehicles parked on the street, you cannot move in the big trucks that are needed to repair gas lines and all this other stuff.”
Thinking back through the experience, Jon stressed the importance of remaining an asset to your friends and family during a crisis, rather than becoming a liability. For Jon, that included having first-aid knowledge and medical supplies on-hand.
“Everyone in our group was carrying individual first aid kits. You have a bunch of people that have never used a chainsaw before, now using a chainsaw in an area that’s hard to reach. It’s really easy to catch a leg or do something and get injured there.”
After the initial cleanup effort, Jon and his friends stayed in the area for several days, working during daylight hours and sleeping on Trey’s floor at night. They found opportunities to help wherever they could. That included roofing work, and unpacking trucks with supplies for refugees who had lost their homes.
Reflecting on the relief effort, Jon thought of how lucky he and his friends were that their text messages and voice calls got through following the tornado, despite several cell towers being down.
“If my buddy had been hit by a tornado and his cell phone didn’t work, I don’t know that he’d have a good plan to get a hold of me. I don’t know that I’d have a good plan to get a hold of him.”
Jon and Trey plan to develop a more robust emergency communications plan with backup options for staying in touch during a crisis.
While the tornado that destroyed much of Trey’s neighborhood was a tragic example of the destructive power that even an isolated natural disaster can have, it was also an opportunity for Jon, Trey, and their friends to come together in a time of hardship.
“Moving a whole tree by yourself is not super fun,” said Jon. “Moving a whole tree with 14 buddies is not a big deal. You need a good network of people to help you when problems come up.”
It’s a reminder for all of us that having critical supplies in place for a disaster is only one piece of the equation. We also need response plans that include mutual support for family, friends, and neighbors who will need our assistance in the aftermath of a disaster.
