The Shadow
PULASKI (AP) – A year after tornadoes damaged parts of southwest Virginia, Gov. Bob McDonnell stopped by Friday to check on the recovery.
Eight people were injured on April 11, 2011, when tornadoes hit Pulaski County, damaging 270 homes and causing more than $5 million in property damage. Four people died last April 27 when a twister ripped through Washington County.
“You all have done some remarkable things getting those citizens back on their feet and really have made a profound difference in their lives,” McDonnell told dozens of local officials, first responders and volunteers outside the New Life Church of the Nazarene in Pulaski. “I’ve just come to say thank you.”
The Roanoke Times reported that among those getting a helping hand was Sam Crisp, who called his soon-to-be finished house “a dream come true.” Volunteers were putting the finishing touches on the house, built on the same lot as the one destroyed by last year’s storm.
“You’ve come a long way in a year,” McDonnell told Crisp.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency denied McDonnell’s requests for federal disaster aid to the tornado-stricken communities, so they have relied on state and local governments, as well as private donations and volunteer labor, for relief and reconstruction.
McDonnell thanked volunteers with the New River Valley chapter of the American Red Cross, which served 11,000 meals to displaced residents. He also lauded Brethren Disaster Ministries, which has volunteers from throughout the country helping rebuild homes.
“It wasn’t just a short-term show to hand out some resources,” McDonnell said. “It’s just an incredible long-term commitment to seeing a community being rebuilt.
It if takes another six months or 12 months to get people back in their houses, they’re going to be here.”
McDonnell later toured the tornado-damaged areas of Washington County.
