La. group rebuilds PC home

PHIL CAMPBELL – A close-knit family and complete strangers from a Louisiana church joined forces this past week to continue working on a new home for a Phil Campbell couple whose home was destroyed by the deadly April 27 tornado.

Carol Parker and her husband, Jay, knew the weather forecast for April 27 didn’t look good. Parker said she is terrified of storms, so she had kept a close eye on the weather since waking up that morning.

“The sirens went off all day,” Parker said. “We were at my daughter’s house across the road and had already gone to the shelter by the community center once at 10 a.m. and stayed for an hour before we came back home.”

Parker’s granddaughter, Hannah Barnett, is a diabetic and they had decided to keep her home from school with them in anticipation of the severe weather threat.

“Hannah was very concerned about what was going on and she asked me what we needed to do for a tornado,” Parker said. “I told her the best thing to do would be to pack a survival bag with a change of clothes, her diabetic supplies, some water and a toy.

“We had no idea that bag was the only thing she would have left at the end of the day.”

Parker said they were watching the radar on TV and caught the tail end of the storm containing the vicious tornado coming across the Mississippi state line. She knew then it was time to go back to the shelter – a decision that saved the lives of herself and her family members.

“I called my daughter at work and told her she better come on, that it was going to get bad,” Parker said. “We got to the storm shelter and closed up the doors but we heard someone banging. It was the guys from the water department so we let them in.

“A minute later we heard more banging and it was a family. It had gotten so bad at that point that after we opened the door to let them in, it took three grown men to get the door shut again.”

Parker said they waited in the storm shelter and heard the most deafening quiet before they heard the most deafening noise.

“It was just a loud whooshing noise and it sounded like an atomic bomb going off when the tornado snapped all the trees,” Parker said. “After it passed we just all sat there, sick to our stomachs, because we knew our town had been hit.”

When the group finally emerged from inside the storm shelter, they couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

“We could see all the way to town where we couldn’t see it before,” she said. “We knew it was all gone.”

Parker knew her family was safe except no one knew where her son-in-law was. He had been on his way home when the storm hit, but they fortunately found out he hadn’t been in the middle of the storm when it hit.

“Nobody’s phones were working so we couldn’t call, but when he finally got to us at the shelter, he had already been by where his house and our house were and told us it was all destroyed.”

Parker’s son-in-law and daughter, Anthony and Kandy Barnett, had completely lost their home, as did many other people who had lived near them. The Parkers’ home was the only one left standing in that area, but it had suffered heavy damage.

“One wall was completely down, the roof was messed up, windows busted out and the house was twisted on the foundation,” she said. “We had to level it because there was no way to repair it.”

Parker’s brother, Milton Lizana, came up from Slidell, La., the Friday after the tornado came through to bring some supplies and offer support to his family.

“He said ‘Don’t worry, sis. God’s going to take care of you’ and God has definitely taken care of us,” she said. “People don’t give God enough credit for how He has helped us all get back on our feet. He’s the one that sent us this miracle from Louisiana.”

The miracle Parker referred to came in the form of a mission team from Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Slidell where Lizana is a member.

Lizana went to his church committee and told them about the devastation in Phil Campbell and particularly about the devastation his family had experienced, and the church members were more than willing to help.

“We adopted the Parkers to build them this house and are privileged to be here helping them,” said Dale Kimball, executive director of the Epworth Project, which is a group of skilled workers from their church who have rebuilt homes all over the country. “This is the fourth of six trips we will make in total and we hope to be finished with their home somewhere between Thanksgiving and Christmas.”

Kimball said he had to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina swept through his town, so he knows what it’s like to start over and to need help.

“We’re here because God’s here and He calls us to be here,” Kimball said. “This is what we believe we are called to do.”

Lizana said they have received help from other family members in the area and together with his church group, who has been staying at Gravel Hill Missionary Baptist Church, they have all been instrumental in getting his sister and brother-in-law’s home rebuilt again.

“As soon as I got it out of my mouth that my family needed help, this group from my church wanted to know where to go and what to do,” Lizana said.

Parker said it had to be the Lord who sent the group to help them because they never would have been able to rebuild their home otherwise.

“We had insurance, but we didn’t have enough, so this has truly been a blessing for us,” Parker said. “We’re so thankful we didn’t lose any of our family. I know the things we lost were just things that can be replaced, but we’re thankful to have people willing to help us replace even those things. God is good and you can see His hand at work every day.

“I just thank God for good people and good family because I consider all these people my family.”

Kimball said they will be looking for other people in the Phil Campbell area who need assistance with their homes once they finish the Parkers’ house. To get in contact with the Epworth Project, call 985-781-7990, visit www.epworthproject.com or e-mail Kimball at dkimball@epworthproject.com.