Devastating tornado brought out the best in humanity

May 15, 2024

It started with a phone call.

Jerome and Mary Michels, parishioners of St. Patrick Parish in Neola, were home in Minden when their son, Matthew, urged them to take shelter. The storm heading their way was “the real deal.”

“I’m in a wheelchair. He didn’t want us just procrastinating like we usually do (during a storm),” Jerome said. “I can get into the basement by going outside and through the garage. Then we watched TV in the basement. It got very close. Then the electricity went off.”

Within five or 10 minutes, they could hear a roaring noise.

“It’s just as they describe it” Jerome recalled. “It sounded like a plane or a jet engine right outside the window. 

The sound got louder.

Then even louder.

Their ears popped.

Their grandson, Jacob, who lives with the couple while he attends college, huddled them in a corner.

They heard glass breaking.

Furniture moving.

And then...silence.

Jacob ran outside. It looked like the town was gone.

The Michels’ home, built 121 years ago, was damaged but still standing. Jerome was trapped in the basement because his wheelchair couldn’t get around the debris.

“You’re just awestruck that, in only three minutes, your whole world is upside down. We get subtle reminders all the time, but it was a real reminder that we’re not in control of our lives as much as we think,” he said.

Across the alley lived the Rings. Nick Ring died of his injuries. His Mass of Christian Burial was held a few days later at nearby St. Patrick Parish in Neola.

As Minden residents emerged from their shelters, shocked by what they saw, people began to come: friends, families, and strangers of goodwill.

“They would help you do anything you asked. It’s so good,” said Jerome “We always suspect those people are out there. You just don’t hear about them. They don’t get acknowledged, but there’s many good people out there in the world.”

Indeed, as soon as the coast was clear, St. Patrick Parish sprung into action. 

“As a parish family, there was this massive support, this massive love that went out,” said Father Julius Itamid.

Originally from Nigeria, he had never seen destruction from a tornado until now.

“It was heartbreaking,” he said. 

He found one parishioner’s home completely gone, another with damage and the garage destroyed. Others had windows blown out.

“It was just awful. Never in my life have I seen that,” said Father Itamid. Yet he witnessed his parish family come together.

Immediately after the tornado, parishioners started calling friends, family and parishioners, especially the elderly. Those who could not be reached by phone were visited by someone from the parish checking in on them, said Shannon Nye, the parish’s director of religious education.

The Michels, who have belonged to St. Patrick Parish for 50 years, got a call from several parishioners and Father Itamid to see if they needed a place to stay.

Parishioners opened their homes, even if they didn’t have electricity, to the tornado victims so anyone who had a spare bed could offer a safe place to sleep, said parish council chair Matt Brummett. And they collected blankets and pillows, bringing them to the Neola Area Community Center. 

The next day, parishioners prepared a meal and served it at the gathering center for all the workers who rushed in to help.
“This community is amazing,” said Nye. “Neola, Minden, Underwood, they branched together, like in the sermon today (in which Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches.”). Branches take care of each other. This is the best place to be for that.”

Just two days later, Bishop William Joensen was at St. Patrick Church to celebrate confirmation. He invited the parish to let him and the Diocese know if there was anything they could do to help.

Nye asked parishes of the Diocese to pray for those affected by the tornados.

Parishes in Missouri Valley and Logan began collecting items to donate. 

Bishop Joensen called on all parishes in the Diocese to hold a special collection for all those who suffered catastrophic damage from Pottawattamie and Shelby Counties down to Creston, Osceola, and Tingley at the southern border, and Pleasant Hill.

RaeShelle Jensen was amazed at the kindness of others shown in the hours and days after the tornado.

“It’s not just Minden. It’s all the surrounding towns and communities. The overwhelming help and the organizations that have come out with food and help, it’s just … You see it on TV but you never see it in person. It’s amazing how the people have helped out.

Mary and Jerome Michels, who ran the Minden grocery store for many years before retiring, are grateful they survived and for all the assistance they’ve received.

She said: “A lot of people experience the worst of humanity but we got to see the very best of humanity.”

To help provide immediate and long-term aid to those recovering from this natural disaster consider donating online through the Diocese – General Disaster Relief fund. This fund supports humanitarian relief and reconstruction efforts organized by relief agencies in our diocese and other areas impacted by natural disasters.