COLUMBUS, Ohio — A week after a series of rare, unexpected tornados ripped through several states in the Midwest, many have stepped up to help states like Kentucky recover.
Lisa Willison is originally from Columbus, but she now lives just a few minutes from Madisonville, Kentucky. That’s about an hour and a half from Mayfield, one of the towns that were hit hard by the tornados.
On Sunday she was on the ground helping with recovery efforts in the area.
"It's just like you know the whole area was put in a blender and the blender was turned on and... I mean there's nothing left…I mean there's literally nothing left,” she said.
The storms killed nearly 80 people.
"The largest one hit around 10:30 pm that was about a mile and a half wide, and that's the one that stayed on the ground for over 200 miles,” said Willison. “You have those people who are pitching tents in front of their properties and they're afraid to lose what little belongings they do have left,” she said.
She described this past week as a disaster relief clean-up. From National Guard Troops to Red Cross Volunteers and just the everyday person, Willison said people have stepped up to help.
“When tragedies like this happen a lot of good comes out of it. And that's just seeing the community and the world pull together for Kentuckians,” she said.
Willison said one of the ways that you can help even if you’re not physically on the ground is by contacting your local Red Cross to donate money or supplies.
"We will recover. It's never going to be the same as it was. When we rebuild it's going to be better,” said Willison.