TRENTON, Mo. — Families are still displaced and slowly cleaning up the mess left behind after last week’s tornado.
Last week Larry Bailey and his wife Karen were relaxing at home when a tornado hit and changed their lives forever.
“We’re sad, but what are you going to do,” said Larry. “It’s been pretty hectic, we’ve been moving stuff to storage still, and we’ve pretty much got that taken care of, now it’s just finding stuff.”
Since then, the community has come together to help rebuild.
“Their friends, neighbors, different church organizations, have been up over the weekend helping them get picked up, cleaned up, and trying to salvage what they could,” said Jesse Richmond, who works at the maintenance barn across the street from the Bailey’s home. He says he’s not surprised by the response of the community.
“The road between here and where you pulled in at had nothing but cars, and trucks, and people just wanting to help,” added Richmond.
He says the barn lost doors, windows, and had other damage too. They’ve been coming in early and working late to clean up mess and fix things, but the small town of Trenton has been lending a big hand.
“It’s kind of like the old TV series, Mayberry, or the Andy Griffith show,” said Richmond. “Everybody comes together when anyone needs help.”
Bailey has lived in the Trenton community since 1969. He’s lived in his house for more than 25 years.
“If we had lived somewhere where we didn’t have anybody it would have been tough,” said Bailey.
Bailey says he doesn’t even recognize his home anymore. He’s currently dealing with insurance, and isn’t sure if his home will ever be livable again.
“It’s not home, it’s like a different place than what we’re used to,” said Bailey. “We’ve just been doing a little bit at a time, every day, and we’ll make it through, we will make it through.”
Other residents whose homes were damaged or destroyed say it could take months before things get back to normal, but they are remaining hopeful.
