Communities rallying together after tragedy strikes

HAMILTON, Miss. (WCBI) – Experiencing a tragedy isn’t ideal for anyone.

However, when tragedy does strike, it’s common for it to bring people and communities closer together.

It’s been nearly a year since a fatal EF-2 tornado ripped through Hamilton.

The storm caused significant damage to several homes, but also helped bring the community together.

After the storm hit an organization called Monroe Strong was formed.

It’s a committee that was designed to help residents and those in the community get the resources and help they need to get back on their feet.

Pastor Robert Moore said he still remembers the devastation the storm caused, but he also remembers the unity that was displayed throughout the community.

“We knew all along what we would do in a case like that because that’s the kind of community this is,” said Pastor Moore, with Hamilton Baptist Church. “It’s a community where everybody basically knows one another and tries to take care of one another, so it wasn’t a question about what we were going to do, they just did it.”

Seeing the community come together was a bright spot during a dark time.

Emily Kennedy helped with the organization Monroe Strong during the recovery efforts.

She said Hamilton has always been a close-knit community, and after the storm came it helped everyone grow even closer.

“In that moment of fear, it brought people together to say hey, you know what, it’s going to be OK,” said Kennedy. “When one person lost a house, and the other ones lost a house, that common denominator brings them together to say you know what, together we’re going to be OK.”

Kennedy was also the first lady at Abundant Life UPC, which was one of the many churches to opened its doors to give back storm survivors.

She said she witnessed several acts of kindness as the community was recovering from the storm.

“It just makes me emotional thinking about it,” Kennedy described. “I’ve never seen so much love from humankind to another humankind because of the love and support. We’re talking about people of every race, people of every stature. You seen them just reach out a hand and hug and give supplies on supplies.”

While the community was going through one of its darkest times came about the hash-tags #HamiltonStrong and #MonroeStrong, popular sayings symbolizing what the community is all about.

“The night before the next morning, they were out there with chainsaws and things like that doing what they needed to do just immediately after the storm,” Pastor Moore explained. “You talk about biological families, church families, and community families, well this is actually a community family and they came together.”

“It was so beautiful to see the love of God in these people,” said Kennedy. “This community, they’ve got each other’s back.”

Another act of kindness being shown was through Kennedy’s pottery collection.

She created more than a dozen handmade platters and personalized each one in its own unique way for storm survivors in Hamilton.