An EF-3 tornado ripped through Mineral Wells at about 5 p.m. on Tuesday evening, April 28. Texans on Mission volunteers responded promptly, deploying the next day with a chainsaw team, a box team, and quickly setting up a shower and laundry unit to support the Red Cross unit at First Baptist Church, Mineral Wells.
Thankfully, no one was killed, and only five were injured. However, the devastation was immense, with a tally of 132 homes and businesses damaged or destroyed.
David Meyer with the Denton County Chainsaw Unit, serving as the Blue Cap team leader in Mineral Wells this week, said teams started showing up as early as 8 a.m. on Wednesday. Meyer said TXM volunteers helped remove fallen trees off houses, clean up any stray tree limbs and pile them up along the road so the city could come by and pick up the debris.
“We’re here as long as it takes to get the job done,” Meyer said, motioning to the several TXM trucks parked on the neighborhood street.
Mineral Wells resident Melody Singleton and her family were one of many whose homes were destroyed in the storm. She said her daughter-in-law had warned her of ugly weather headed their way. They also saw storms on the news forecasts. When her husband went to look outside to see how bad it was, the electricity went out.
“We got our big Aussie dog, we got in the closet and we covered our heads,” Singleton said.
It was no more than a minute later when the deafening winds and rain came, she said.
“You could hear the roof lifting off, metal smashing and water and rain pouring in immediately,” Singleton said.
Singleton said she and her husband made it out without a scratch. Her husband ran immediately to check on their neighbors afterward.
“We know no doubt our lives were spared,” Singleton said, choked up. “My closet is the only place in the house that doesn’t have major damage.”
Singleton said once insurance was able to assess the damage, TXM crews were ready to go and got right to work with clean up efforts.
“They have worked all day long and made a huge difference,” Singleton said. “I love to see people coming together — neighbors helping neighbors, strangers helping strangers.”
Another homeowner, Gary Weatherford, described his experience being away from home while the storm passed through. He and his wife were at a Walmart when the store went on lockdown due to the tornado. His wife was on the phone with their daughter who was at home, helplessly listening as she panicked on the other line.
Weatherford’s daughter, Harley, took shelter in the bathroom, but the ceiling started to lift off, so she ran to the closet, he said. There, she waited out the storm. All the ceilings of the rooms surrounding the closet collapsed or were blown off by the wind, but the walls and ceiling of the closet held solid.
“We also have four little dogs and they all made it through, too,” Gary said. “It was by the grace of God she was kept safe in that closet.”
Weatherford said the house was built by his in-laws 18 years ago. Never in his life had he ever been through a storm of this caliber, and neither had the house, which was now destroyed. But what mattered to him most was his family.
“This can all be replaced, so we’re just thankful that she’s okay,” he said.
Meyer said that while their clean-up efforts have been impactful on the Mineral Wells community, the time he is able to spend with homeowners is the highlight of his work.
“The job is to be the hands and feet of Jesus,” Meyer said. “We pray with them, we present them with a Bible the entire team has signed and we try to be quiet for just a little bit and listen to them talk and tell us their story.”
TXM Skidsteers and chainsaw volunteers are currently clearing debris after the storm in Mineral Wells. Five skids steers are also assisting in those cleanup efforts.
In Springtown, there was considerable damage to trees from an EF-1 tornado that passed through, with large tree trunks tumbling over and limbs dangerously hanging from trees and roofs. A chainsaw team was out helping clear debris less than 24 hours after the storm, which occurred Saturday, April 25.
TXM volunteers have been doing what they can to help families in Springtown move forward. Two more chainsaw teams have now joined the initial chainsaw team. Incident management, shower and laundry, and feeding teams have also joined chainsaw teams working to provide relief.
Between Mineral Wells and Springtown, teams were able to hand out nearly 2,000 boxes to homeowners. These boxes are given out so families can collect belongings from their damaged homes and store them safely while repairs are in progress.
One Springtown homeowner told the volunteers he was overwhelmed and didn’t know where to start, so he was grateful for their help. He said they “brought me so much joy.”
If you are interested in getting involved with the work we are doing in Mineral Wells and Springtown, you can train to become a disaster relief volunteer, or you can give financially to enable volunteers to respond in Christ’s name.
