Jon and Marian had been celebrating their recent retirement when they learned that tornadoes had blazed through their community in rural Virginia.

DELTAVILLE, Va. – Jon and Marian were celebrating a long awaited retirement with a vacation to Tennessee when they heard the news.

Massive storms had spun up the east coast, spawning tornadoes and ripping through towns from the Carolinas through Virginia.

They set off for the seven hour trek home hoping that their house had somehow survived unscathed. When they pulled into the drive, they saw that their house still stood, but the tornadoes had blazed a trail right through the acreage next to their home, tearing at least a dozen mature trees out and dropping them like kindling onto the house, the garage and the yard.

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Without the means to even cook a meal, the couple went to Operation Blessing’s mobile kitchen for a hot meal that night. Someone there asked them to fill out a sheet of paper explaining where they lived and detailing the damage done.

“It was emotionally devastating,” Marian said.

“We didn’t have any means to take care of the cleanup ourselves,” Jon added, noting that though they had insurance to cover the house and the garage, it would have taken them months to remove the debris and trees from the yard.

A crew of Operation Blessing disaster relief specialists and volunteers helped Jon and Marian clear the downed trees and debris from their property.

But the next morning, Jon and Marian awoke to an inspiring sight. An Operation Blessing crew of disaster relief specialists and volunteers had arrived to help the couple restore their devastated property.

“This morning when I woke up and saw 20 people in the yard with rakes and shovels, ready to work, it just touched my heart,” Marian said.

Holding back tears, Jon explained that they have often volunteered their time to help others out, but “to get up and see about 20 people coming to do the same thing for us—it’s been a blessing.”

Work crews cleaned up fallen debris and used special equipment to pick up large tree trunks and pull down fallen trees that were hanging precariously in the couple’s backyard.

“They restored our house, but they also restored our hope,” Marian said. With Jon adding, “I just can’t thank you enough.”

After assessing the damage, Operation Blessing’s response team headed to Deltaville, a small community of 3,000.

The team quickly set up a mobile kitchen to begin serving hot meals to affected families, emergency personnel and work crews. Teams then brought in heavy equipment to remove trees and other debris.

HOW YOU CAN HELP
You can help by making an online donation toward OBI's disaster relief efforts. With your support, we can continue to provide emergency relief and recovery. Please make an on-line donation today.

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