Barron County Assuring Tornado Victims They ‘Are Not Alone’

Barron County employees are going door to door offering recovery information to homeowners whose properties were damaged or destroyed by this month’s EF3 tornado as part of what they’re calling the You Are Not Alone Initiative.

Public health specialist Jeanine Schultz and a dozen other employees are canvassing storm-damaged homes handing out tornado recovery guides with tips on re-entering homes, documenting damage and replacing important documents such as credit cards and tax information.

Schultz visited the home of Barbara and Richard Prokupek, of Cameron, on Tuesday. Some of their windows blew out, and there was damage to the exterior of the home. But their two storage buildings across the street and most of what was in them disappeared after the tornado came through. But through it all Barbara said the outpouring of support from the community has been overwhelming.

“It was really nice. You know, not only helping hands, and then every day they came down the street with bag lunches,” said Barbara.

While offering assistance, county workers are also tallying damage in hopes of securing whatever disaster aid may be available. But Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald said that while getting more funding would be great, the main goal of the initiative is offering whatever assistance county government can to residents.

“We were put in command of this situation two weeks ago and we need to make sure that peoples’ needs are being met, and I think there’s a lot of emotional needs out there that we have services available to meet that need,” Fitzgerald said.

On May 16, an EF3 tornado traveled 83 miles from Polk County to Price County. Despite the long trail of destruction, only one person was killed during the storms.