A tornado hit Hampton, VA on the evening of June 1st. Since it was so close to home, I headed up on Saturday morning to survey the damage and take some photos. We ended up responding for a few days, helping homeowners cover roofs and clean up debris. I snapped these the first morning--crews had just started cleaning up vegetation in the street. Big, beautiful trees had been uprooted. Luckily I only spotted a few homes that been split in two by giant trees.
On April 4th tornadoes touched down in several places around the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Within hours I was on a plane headed to Dallas. As part of a rapid response team, I was sent to make damage assessments to determine if a full deployment would be necessary. Driving around parts of South Dallas, namely Lancaster, we saw heavy damage inflicted on brick structures: something we look for. Below are some of the photos from my first few days in Lancaster.
A dangerous storm system passed through the Midwest on February 29th, 2012. Dubbed the "Leap Year Tornadoes," parts of the Midwest were hit hard. The morning after the storm passed through Harrisburg, IL our disaster team gathered to talk about a possible deployment. The small town in Southern Illinois had six deaths (a death a week later would result in seven), and initial reports were suggesting around 300+ damaged structures.
By 3PM I was on a plane headed to Illinois. I arrived 18HRS after the tornado hit. The small community had more resilience, hope, and heart than any I've ever seen...