Neighbors help each other pick up the pieces in Bowling Green after tornado

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WDRB) -- Neighbors helping neighbors has been a common scene throughout Bowling Green for days following the devastation of this weekend's tornadoes across Kentucky.

On Monday, streets were filled with volunteers passing out water and food and driving truckloads full of supplies. Properties were turned into active work zones with strangers meeting strangers, showing up with chainsaws, tools and their bare hands to help clean up.

"That’s Bowling Green," Warren County Coroner Kevin Kirby said. "Bowling Green is a great community, a loving community, and this is a very giving community."

Among the adults, several kids also showed up to help. Both the Warren County Public Schools system and Bowling Green Independent Schools will remain closed until early January.

"If you don't have money, if you don't have material things to help the victims of this tornado, you have yourself," said Darlene Davis, a Bowling Green volunteer. "You have your two hands. If you can do that, that's something."

Homes damaged in Bowling Green after weekend tornado, image from Dec. 13, 2021

One of the areas hit the hardest in Bowling Green was not far from Jennings Creek Elementary School. Several homes in the Whispering Hills and Creekwood area are damaged beyond repair.

"It's gone, everything," said one man who lost his home.

Not far from the campus of Western Kentucky University, businesses and homes were destroyed off the Bypass and Magnolia and Nutwood streets.

"Back in '75 — I believe it was — we had a tornado that had two or three people killed. And at that time, I thought, 'I hope we never have another one of these,'" Kirby said. "Of course, Warren County and Bowling Green was less populated then too, but it's been a tough couple days to lose 15 people in our community."

Power lines down, damage remains in Bowling Green city limits after weekend tornado.

Of those 15 who have lost their lives in Bowling Green, Kirby said seven are children, including two infants. For a list of victims' names, click here.

The Bowling Green Fire Department said Tuesday that crews are still searching for 13 missing people.

One of the victims who did not survive was 77-year-old Mae White, who lived off Hillridge Court. Her daughter, Shirbai White, has been searching for her mother's jewelry to bury her in, but so far, the family and search crews have not been able to find the missing pieces.

"She was a really good-hearted person," Shirbai said. "This affected a whole lot of people. Her passing affected a whole lot of people. Just like this storm did, her passing did, too. She showed a lot of people love. A lot of people loved her, cared about her. They're very upset. We all are upset. You hate for her to have to go like this."

It has been a trying time for the community, but so many people have answered the call to help those who need it most.

"We will get through this and we will have knowledge from it," Kirby said. "We will be better from it and we will have knowledge from what we have learned during this storm to make things better. And our prayers are just with everyone who has been affected and especially with those families who have lost a loved one."

For ways to help those across Kentucky impacted by these storms, click here.

To assist families in Warren County directly, monetary donations can be made to the WCPS Synergy Relief Fund at any Independence Bank branch or donations can be accepted online through this link.

Federal assistance is available to people in Caldwell, Fulton, Graves, Hopkins, Marshall, Muhlenberg, Taylor and Warren counties.

FEMA is now accepting applications for assistance. Click here or call 800-621-3362 for more information.

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