Photos by Cady Herring
The Cancer Book 101 Stories of Courage, Support & Love lies in the rubble
Chad Ramsey, pastor of Gloster Church of Christ, looks for salvageable items in Charles Milam’s home.
Charles Milam rests while collecting valuables from his destroyed home.
A King James Bible dries in the sunlight
“Man, that car really is totaled,” said Charles Milam while he tip-toed around the torn walls, doors, windows and other household items that had made up his home since 1978. He sighed, sat down and looked behind him at an heirloom clock. “My uncle would turn in his grave if he knew what it looked like now,” he said. His aunt had given it to him, and she and his uncle treasured nice items. Instead of in the living room, it lay in what had been the backyard. The glass was shattered. The wood broken.
Milam and his wife, Martha, were in a hallway when the tornado hit their home on Monday, but their granddaughter made it to the bathroom. Afterwards, they went to the hospital for their bruises and scrapes, and it reminded him of recent trip when he learned he had cancer.
Even though Milam has been enduring these struggles, he was thankful that his pastor, Chad Ramsey, came to help.
Kevin Barnes pauses while searching for valuables from his home.
Terry Collins and Kevin Barnes remove items from Barnes’ home
Kevin Barnes was working at BancorpSouth when the tornado hit Monday. His wife and daughter, Amber and Cera, remained unharmed, and to Barnes, that was the most important thing.
“She’s ok. She can’t be replaced, so I’m thankful she’s ok,” Barnes said. “We’ve saved a lot of the things that we really need.”
Barnes said that he hopes to rebuild on the same lot that he’s owned since October 2011. The neighborhood is a great community in which to live, and he hopes that he and his family are able to get back.
A torn apart Steak Escape is seen on North Gloster St.
Jane Hansberger stands in the destruction of her husband’s Steak Escape restaurant.
“God is good,” said Jane Hansberger. “God is good. It doesn’t matter what kind of devastation. Only by the grace of God they made it through”
Hansberger’s husband was in his Steak Escape when the tornado hit, but no one knew that it was coming. The sirens were not working, but when the sky turned dark black and Hansberger saw a transformer spark, he and the customers in the store went into the men’s bathroom and locked the door. After the quiet settled, they could feel the walls leaning, but everyone came out without a scratch.
He immediately called Hansberger.
“He told me it had just devastated it, and he was right.”
