Monday, November 18, 2002
Fraternity brothers from Thiel College in Greenville have gone to the borough to help.
CLARK, Pa. (AP) -- The tornado that ripped through this Mercer County borough, killing one person, injuring about two dozen and destroying homes and property is wreaking emotional havoc on residents.
"We're two hours happy and making jokes. We'll pull something out of there, or someone shows up out of the blue to help, and we'll be great," said Tricia Mueller, as she and her husband brushed dirt from a portrait of their children, Christopher, 4, and Hanna, 3.
"Then I go in the house and I bawl," she said.
The Muellers' home is one of the 14 destroyed and 28 heavily damaged by a tornado that touched down Nov. 10 in this a community of 660 people.
Words of thanks
Mueller and her husband, Matthew, have spray-painted words of thanks to volunteers on one of the few walls of their home left standing.
Fraternity brothers from Thiel College in Greenville have showed up to help, as have others, including a man who pulled up in a pickup truck and said, "Put me to work."
Like the Muellers, other residents are thankful, but grappling with roller coaster emotions after a week of cleanup.
Edna Priester said she and her husband, George, weren't harmed and their possessions can be replaced. But she cries and is having trouble sleeping.
"Your mind is just too cluttered. You relive [the tornado] and keep thinking about it. Then you think about all there is to do," she said. "You think you pretty much have control over your life, but then you learn there are some things [about which] you cannot do anything."
Albert Boland, a UPMC Health System spokesman, said that response is typical.
"It's a normal reaction to have an adrenaline rush and to face what's in front of you. Then a day or two later, reality starts to set in," he said.
For as long as needed, UPMC is keeping a medical truck to treat residents and provide referrals to those who need mental-health care.
Meanwhile, officials in Clark aren't optimistic the community will receive a federal disaster declaration. The uninsured damage may not have been extensive enough to meet guidelines, they said. The designation would have allowed people to seek loans and grants.
The tornado, which killed one man when his house collapsed, was spawned by a weather system that swept through more than a half-dozen states from Alabama to Pennsylvania, killing at least 33 people and injuring more than 200.
In Clark, Charles E. Templeton, 81, died when his home was leveled by the storm.