Volunteers helping, feeding Maury County tornado survivors
MAURY COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — When an EF-3 tornado came barreling through Maury County, Gary Furkin was sitting on his porch watching the weather when he heard what many tornado survivors describe as the sound of a train.
“I went back in the house and got my wife out of bed, and we went in the closet with the animals,” Furkin described. “I was just hoping that it missed the house, but we heard all the noise when everything started cracking and breaking and flying.”
Fifteen minutes later, Furkin and his wife came out to find his home of 26 years destroyed.
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“I was devastated,” Furkin said. “I said, ‘I don’t need this at all,’ but everybody seems to be pitching in and helping out.”
“My heart just goes out to the homeowners because it’s like, where do you even start?” volunteer Jeremy Yoder explained.
Yoder told News 2 that he survived the December 2023 tornado that blew through Dickson, but his house was demolished. He said if he can use the tools and the time that he has to help another survivor, that’s what he will do.
“It’s nothing of us,” Furkin said. “It’s just that I hope that he can see God’s love flowing through us because we’ve been blessed in so many ways. The Lord spared our lives, and I thank him every day for that.”
Furkin said he has a long way to go until he can move back into his home again.
“Just got to rebuild and start all over, I guess,” Furkin said.
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For Maury County residents like Furkin, who are still without power, water, and food, a local lawn company is ensuring they stay fed.
The owners of Lawn Masters, Joe Dugger and Robert Beckenbach, told News 2 as they watched the Maury County tornado hit client after client’s home.
On Thursday, they decided they would take action to help their community; they flipped over 125 burgers and hotdogs for lunch and dinner to feed survivors, volunteers, linemen, and first responders.
Tornado survivor Jennifer Wiseman told News 2 that she and her son were stuck in their home all night with trees on her car, house, and driveway.
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She said she thought she would have to search for a snack for the day.
“It’s a relief,” Wiseman said while eating a burger. “It’s not knowing, you know? Knowing that you’re stuck and not having any power and knowing you’ll probably have to throw away most of that food. Then what are you going to do?”
“We had some guys come in earlier who said they’ve been here all night long working,” Dugger said. “They’re like, ‘Man, all we’ve had is cheese and crackers.’ [..] You really work a lot better, and you can think a lot better on a full stomach.”
Dugger said they will be at Family Baptist Church late Thursday night and encouraged anyone hungry to stop by.
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