Jose 'JJ' Balderas
Like many Springtown residents impacted by the April 25 EF-1 tornado, Tammy Patterson is continuing to struggle through the recovery process after a large pine tree crashed through her mobile home during the storm, leaving the structure irreparably damaged and deemed a total loss by relief workers.
Patterson said the slow-moving storm gradually intensified and generated powerful winds, hail and heavy rain throughout her neighborhood.
“I looked out the windows, (the clouds were) like turquoise and kind of spinning,” she said.
“It was scary. Wind was sucking back and forth,” Patterson said.
She told the Springtown Epigraph she and her husband felt helpless since all they could do was brace themselves by standing in between the mobile home’s doorframes as the tornado passed over.
Patterson said she heard several loud booms before a pine tree crashed through a portion of the home, knocking part of the ceiling down. Rain immediately began pouring into the house as she scrambled in the dark to place buckets under the leaks, using lanterns for light after the power went out.
In the days after the storm, Patterson said she struggled to figure out how to remove the trees from the home by herself as her husband has Parkinson’s Disease.
Patterson’s daughter was eventually able to contact the Minute Man Disaster Response team which helped remove the tree debris from the home.
A volunteer roofer was later sent by Servolution Network, a local nonprofit that specializes in external home repair, and was able to help Patterson tarp the roof.
In the past weeks, Patterson said she has been contacting relief organizations and documenting the damage, including the iSTAT damage survey. It was through Red Cross officials that she learned her home is officially unsalvageable.
Patterson and her husband continue to stay in their home because they cannot currently afford another place to live. Portions of the roof continue to leak and the floors that were struck by the pine tree have buckled.
Despite the circumstances, Patterson said she remains optimistic as she recovers from the storm.
“I know a lot of people have it worse — their homes are gone completely. I’m just taking it one day at a time and praying, sweet Jesus,” she said.
Volunteers or donors interested in helping Tammy Patterson can contact Servolution Network’s Executive Director Jason Malewiski at [email protected].
