Pocatello resident goes to Mississippi to help residents in tornado aftermath

POCATELLO — (KIVI) This year’s severe weather season is off to a destructive and deadly start. There have been nearly 500 tornado reports across 25 states. According to the Storm Prediction Center, 389 tornadoes were recorded during the first three months of the year, the second most on record.

Idaho has seen its share of active weather this winter and spring, but one Pocatello resident jumped in to assist in the massive cleanup efforts ongoing in the Deep South. Jennifer Padian joined the Red Cross 15 months ago and started by helping out locally with blood drives. She wanted to do more, so she volunteered to go to Amory, Mississippi near the Alabama state line in late March following the outbreak of tornadoes.

The Red Cross provides food, shelter, and health services for victims of the violent tornadoes. Padian’s role is client intake, helping with the needs of residents and determining if they qualify for financial assistance.

“The individuals that have come in to see us are truly grateful. They are really nice people. Despite what they’ve gone through, most of them have a very good disposition. They are just looking for some assistance to help start the recovery process,” Padian explains. She says the community is rallying around those who lost everything and pulling together what they have to help each other.

The violent tornadoes leveled numerous communities across the Deep South and the Midwest taking dozens of lives and leaving hundreds injured. “It’s hard to describe. Where things once stood, they’re no longer there. A gas station that has an overhang for the gas pumps, the big metal beams have just been twisted, broken apart, and broken in half. It’s just truly humbling to see just what nature can do,” said Padian.

Jennifer Padian is the only Idaho Red Cross member currently in the area providing help. She anticipates she will be in Mississippi until mid-April.