KSHB 41 News reporter Lauren Schwentker covers stories in the Northland, including in Clay and Platte counties. Have a story idea? Send her an email.
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Utility crews are hard at work restoring power along the main road in Hillsdale, and volunteers are cleaning up damage after a massive storm ripped across the city earlier this week.
An EF2 tornado traveled through Miami County on Monday night.
Roads in Hillsdale are still closed to through traffic. Volunteers, workers and residents are the only people allowed through in Miami County.
Progress is being made, with bulldozers clearing areas and crews chopping down trees Wednesday.
People who spoke with KSHB 41 News said they plan to keep coming back until the work is done.
"You care about people, so it’s traumatizing," volunteer Teresa Reeves said. "You don’t know how anybody could survive that."
Beth Klinker, who volunteered her time, said she was in tears after seeing the amount of people who came to help.
Klinker, who is also the Maryville Township clerk, told KSHB 41 she was worried about the cost of cleanup, but that mindset quickly shifted after seeing the support.
"I'm just so blown away, I thought this would take us forever to clean up," Klinker said. "I came over to see if I could help, and these huge crews were already here. They cut down these huge trees that were snapped off and it’s just amazing."
Christian Aid Ministries, neighbors and people from multiple congregations also came to offer support.
Nonprofits are also stepping up to provide food. Skeeter Stone with Operation BBQ Relief plans on returning all week to help.
"We fed 150 today (Wednesday) and we ran out today, and we are coming back tomorrow (Thursday), and we will bring a lot more tomorrow," Stone said. "I talked to someone today that’s getting all their pictures out of their storage unit, so maybe that hot meal is one less thing off their plate."
There is still a long road ahead, but steady community support is already making a difference in Hillsdale.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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