Wings4Humanity responds to Kentucky tornadoes
Submitted by WINGS FOR HUMANITY
SMITHFIELD — When the news of the recent tornadoes in Kentucky reached Wings4Humanity, the group responded. Tornadoes had touched down in Kentucky with more than 240 miles of reported damage and countless lives affected. Since 1995, Wings4Humanity has responded to disasters around the world providing air support, transportation, medical evacuations. Sunday morning, Doug Pagliolo and Steven Leger received the call to respond. Grabbing their go-bags, they met at the Johnston Regional Airport, where the organization is based. After a three-hour flight and battling a 40-knot headwind, they landed at Nashville International Airport in Tennessee. They stopped to refuel and a crane operator with Gideon Rescue Company joined them. Gideon provides search and rescue teams, rescue dogs, and equipment for disaster relief. Forty-five minutes into their flight to Kentucky, they came across the tornado’s path. Circling the most devastated areas, they used Google Maps to pin the locations that were most affected. Landing at Mayfield Graves County Airport and seeing the destruction up close filled Leger with a sense of urgency. After landing, the Wings4Humanity group met with the rest of the teams. The thought of someone trapped kept Doug, the Gideon crane operator, up all night. He wasn’t alone. Early the next morning, plans were made. W4H coordinated with GRC’s president, Brock Mayer, and Heritage Academy’s response team on a plan of action based on the information gathered from the flight the day before. Leger was placed in charge of a box truck to deliver essential supplies from the distribution centers to the communities in need while Doug picked up more rescuers from Nashville, and flew them to Mayfield, Kentucky. Praying to God that He would direct their actions, they split up and got 32 | [ JOHNSTON NOW ]
to work. Leger headed towards the airport where some of the supplies were being stored in one of the large hangars. Upon arrival, he discovered that the fairgrounds and airport, the two major distribution centers for food, water, and other essentials, were full to the brim. Not enough people from the communities were getting to the distribution centers to pick up the supplies they needed. Leger stopped by the fairgrounds to meet with Mayer and the academy students. They were handing out small pamphlets to people leaving the fairground and praying with them. These pamphlets talked about hope and how to deal with devastating circumstances in our lives. “Many individuals broke down crying and were so grateful for our prayers and encouragement. This is when I realized that filling their physical needs was not enough, and that if I wanted to make an impact in the lives of these people, I had to be there for them, physically, emotionally, spiritually and mentally,” Leger said. Leger received a call from Doug. He had landed at the airport with Doane Tarin from Texas to respond to this disaster. When Leger arrived at the airport, they climbed into the box truck. Leger gave an update on what was happening and Doug replied, “Well, if the distribution centers aren’t getting enough supplies out, we will do it ourselves!” With that, they went to the supply hangar and loaded the box truck with food, clothes and other essential supplies. They drove towards a community they identified from the air the previous day. “We had no idea if we would find a place to drop our supplies, but with a little faith and a lot of determination we set off,” Leger said. “It was getting dark and our hopes of finding a community in need of our supplies was setting with the sun. Finally, we arrived somewhere called the Moors in Kentucky. Police were blocking
some of the roads. We stopped to ask for directions, but they told us there was nothing ahead and that we should turn around and drop off our supplies at the town’s elementary school. However, we decided to drive ahead to a resort and restaurant.” This restaurant was feeding all the community members for free. Anyone who needed a hot cooked meal could come and eat. It was here the group connected with some of the resort staff, and seeing the box truck full of supplies, they were elated. They unloaded winter clothes, food, blankets, baby food, diapers and other items. “The communities in the area were coming to the restaurant to eat and now they could also come to have much needed supplies. When we were done handing out supplies, resort personnel took pictures with us, and on our Instagram (Wings4Humanity) they commented, thanking us for our service. We found a community in need, and the next day, we would be back to continue serving their needs,” Leger said. The next day, the group drove to the Airport to load up the box truck and headed to Gilbertsville, Kentucky. “When we got to the peninsula along the lake, the destruction was everywhere. As far as the eye could see the tornado had ripped apart everything. There was sea of two-by-fours, nails and broken furniture, and kids’ toys and houses were laid to waste,” Leger said. “Every step I took was slow, for every step was riddled with nails and other hazards. The rescue dogs searched the debris for signs of survivors. Signs commemorating the lives that the tornado took were placed where the houses once stood. Names were spray painted on sheets of plywood along with ‘Rest In Peace.’” Doug, a former Marine who deployed overseas on different occasions, said this damage and destruction was worse than any war zone he had ever witnessed. As they pulled up to where their team was
