Mayfield is nearly 150 miles southwest of Owensboro. For some that’s a two-hour drive, to others it’s a phone call home.
While the city is trying to make sense of the remains of one of Kentucky’s most severe tornado events, several Owensboroans are trying to remember their fallen hometown.
For Jaclyn Graves, it’s tear-jerking to think about it.
She called her mom the moment she found out about the storm, and her mom could sense something was different about this tornado warning than previous ones.
Once the weather cleared, Graves said she would be home as soon as possible to help.
“[My mom and sister] said, ‘What are you coming home for? There’s no reason to come home. We don’t have any electricity. We don’t have any water. There’s nothing that we can actually do,’” Graves said.
Graves also quickly learned about the candle factory that collapsed and the different sites of the damage, and it was “devastating” for her.
From that point, Mayfield citizens began rebuilding in a nature that was true to their core. To Graves, it captures what Mayfield residents truly are: a group of selfless people who love each other and truly want to help out anyone that they can.
While Graves hasn’t gotten a chance to go back to see what is needed, Owensboro resident Daniel Dick has been able to see the disaster first hand.
Dick, an insurance agent for State Farm, spent the majority of his Saturday helping where he could. While doing so he said he couldn’t help but feel helpless, even though he’s thankful his family is safe.
Even his family felt that same feeling Graves’ did — something struck them that it would be different than before.
“You never think it’s gonna happen,” Dick said. “We all watch the storms, then when stuff fizzles out, we feel lucky. But you know, something just felt different about this storm.”
His family saw the brunt of the storm as the path came through, but it stayed clear of their home and his family is safe.
“People are just in shock,” Dick said. “Imagine the worst movie scene that you could possibly think about, the worst bomb movie scene that you’ve ever seen, and the destruction. It’s worse. It’s absolutely worse.”
Thoughts flooded through Dick’s head — where would the people work, what do they do, how do we help.
Graves said that’s the mindset not just of the people who are around Mayfield, but also the people elsewhere. Almost instantly once the all-clear was given, she said she was added to a group chat of high school peers asking for ways to help.
“It’s not the buildings that are so special. It’s the memories that those buildings hold that are special. When you think about that it has been taken away, even though it can be rebuilt, it’s heartbreaking,” Graves said.
Along with formerly being a resident of Mayfield, Graves is a graduate of Western Kentucky University. Seeing two places that she has called home wrecked by the storm was hard, but seeing the response has been gratifying — especially from her new hometown of Owensboro.
“You see just how my Mayfield is hurting, you see Bowling Green and what they’re going through, and then you see Owensboro wrapping their arms around anyone that needs it,” she said. “It’s so comforting.”
