Goodman uninsured won’t receive federal help

April 16--GOODMAN, Mo. -- Volunteers appeared at Ruth Long's door after the April 4 tornado, offering to clean up the mess it left in her backyard.

A week later, her yard was mostly clear, but she was at a loss. Many of her belongings were mixed in with the brush and scrap metal scattered by winds of 100 mph.

Long, 78, like a lot of others living in Goodman, was uninsured.

With no way to pay for repairs, Long is casting about for a place to stay, hoping to avoid having to move to a an elder home.

"I don't have much left," she said.

Nor will she receive public disaster recovery funds. While devastating in some areas of the community, the roughly $2 million in storm damage dealt to this rural town of roughly 1,100 people does not meet the threshold for federal disaster help.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency would step in if uninsured losses alone hit $8.4 million, according to Gregg Sweeten, director of McDonald County Emergency Management.

That means residents without insurance will be left to fend for themselves, albeit with help from volunteers, city workers and nonprofits.

"It's hard trying to explain that to somebody who has lost their house or lost their roof," Sweeten said. "This just isn't big enough."

Tornado tracked 15 miles

Of the 136 homes impacted by the tornado, it is not yet known how many were insured. Roughly half of the residents who have requested help did not have insurance, according to Sweeten.

The tornado tracked northeast for 15 miles, doing the most damage after it crossed the railroad tracks in the heart of town and barreled into Goodman Elementary School, Sweeten said. The school was heavily damaged, accounting for a significant part of the total damages to the town. Of the 61 destroyed or badly damaged houses tallied by city workers, many were near the school.

Barely 100 yards down the tracks, Ed Tuomala had recently added a glass sliding door onto his house. The whole structure, built on the site of his uncle's old workshop, was a work in progress. He'd built new walls and poured a concrete foundation, even adding a kitchen island.

He says he had already sunk about $20,000 into the do-it-yourself home but hadn't had a chance to buy insurance.

When the winds came, he was trapped beneath the glass door as the roof and walls blew away, leaving only his concrete foundation. Tuomala, a 59-year-old former Navy boatswain, says the work isn't done. He received some help from a veteran's organization and doesn't expect much more.

"Oh, we're going to rebuild," he said, grinning. "It's just going to take a while."

Local help

With no FEMA funds forthcoming, local governments and nonprofits are working to fill the void.

A newly formed coalition is raising funds for uninsured residents whose homes were damaged by the storm. Under the banner Community Organizations Active in Disaster, officials from the county, town, school district and area nonprofits are meeting to set up the fund, which would allow for direct, tax-deductible donations to tornado victims. Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri is providing caseworkers who will meet with homeowners and connect them with funds.

Sweeten said the amount of uninsured damage might not be covered by the funds the COAD can muster.

"There's quite a percentage of folks that aren't insured," he said. "I'm sure we're going to have a lot of requests for help."

Darwin Boston, who oversees disaster relief efforts in 29 counties for the Red Cross of Southern Missouri, says the COAD will also allow nonprofits to coordinate relief efforts. His organization participates in similar groups around the state.

"The key to rebuilding is that there's strength in numbers," he said.

Aid workers with the Red Cross went to Goodman immediately after the tornado and provided roughly $10,000 in financial assistance to 37 families, most of them uninsured, he added.

Local governments shouldered much of the cleanup in the week after the tornado. County road crews have cleared most of the trees felled by the tornado, and trucks are scheduled to pick up piles of scrap metal on Monday.

Residents from nearby towns Pineville and Baxter Springs, Kansas, also chipped in, sending equipment and crews to help with cleanup.

Nearly 1,000 volunteers also showed up in the wake of the tornado to repair roofs, clear debris and fix up public spaces damaged by the twister, including the ballparks on the northwest side of town.

Goodman Mayor Greg Richmond said the major cleanup effort is about three-fourths complete, with the elementary school and uninsured homes yet to be repaired.

"It's a small town, and it's not a wealthy town, but we're a proud bunch," he said.

"It's a little bit of normalcy around town. I can hear them hollering and playing ball from my house," he said.

"It's a good sound."

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