VALLEY VIEW — Marinda Lynn’s feet squished into the soggy carpet as she walked to her bedroom.
The 64-year-old grabbed a reading light off a nearby desk and clicked it on.
“These are my babies,” she said Wednesday, casting a spotlight on the family photos hung on the wall before shifting it to the children’s stick-figure drawings taped to the door.
“Once I knew my family was OK, I worried about saving these memories,” she said.
The sounds of hammers thumped on the roof as volunteers nailed down tarps ahead of the next rain storm.
Late Saturday an EF2 tornado rampaged near the house on County Road 2133. It killed seven people between the ages of 2 and 72 in Cooke County and injured hundreds, according to officials, and damaged or completely destroyed most of the homes in Lynn’s neighborhood, Frf Estates. Damage clean-up continued well into the week with no end in sight.
Lynn was in California when the storm pounded the area but her husband, Burt Phillips, her sister and her middle son were all home in Valley View.
“For us, it was just like one big bang,” Phillips, a 68-year-old U.S. Navy veteran, said. “You could hear the tornado struggling to rip more off but not struggling enough to quit.”
The storm busted a number of windows in the house, tore apart the roof, knocked down trees and completely swept away a carport and small shed.
The family has stayed at the house as repairs continue, sweating in the muggy heat some nights and trying to sleep through the rain penetrating the partial roof on others. Some mattresses grew so wet they laid them on a tarp in the front yard Wednesday to dry them in the sun.
They’re making do with what they have, but Phillips is also concerned about their belongings sitting out in the open for days. A few other families The Dallas Morning News spoke to in recent days also said they were worried about people going through their things in the middle of the night.
“We were raised to work for what you wanted and keep going no matter what,” Lynn said. “You always have to work for what you’ve got so that’s why we feel the need to protect it.”
As the couple stood in their kitchen chatting — surrounded by stacks of donated cases of bottled water and brown-bag meals with Bible verses written on them like “I call on the Lord in my distress and he answers me. Psalm 120:1” — the overhead light on the oven lit up.
“The power just came on,” a young man said as he walked into the house.
Without taking a moment to pause with the good news, Lynn offered him a bottle of water. Phillips and the man started discussing whether the drinking water was safe and if the well had been impacted.
The couple said they can’t look too far ahead of what’s next. Phillips said he believes his house is rebuildable and that’s important, but otherwise it’s a never-ending to-do list and handling tasks as they come up.
“It’s not day by day or hour by hour,” Lynn said. “It really is minute by minute.”
‘We always take care of each other’
The area around the most impacted places looks a lot different than it did in the first couple days after the tornado.
Traffic on Interstate 35 cutting through the area flowed well compared to previous days, with a fraction of the rubbernecking from motorists trying to catch a glimpse of the dismantled Shell gas station.
“NO TRESPASS…. F.A.F.O.” — an expletive-laced acronym and warning — was spray painted in black on a large sheet of metal leaning against a nearby structure. It stood as a testament to the property owner’s frustration with the people overstepping boundaries amid the tragedy.
Across an overpass, a Texas State Trooper stands guard at the entrance of Frf Estates, verifying that everyone entering the neighborhood either lives there, is a registered volunteer or a crewman. Those who don’t fall into those categories and don’t have an official visitor’s pass are turned away, no questions asked.
The limited access into the neighborhood was a welcome change, residents said Wednesday, complaining of hundreds of people piling into cars and driving around recording and photographing the destruction.
About 5 miles away, at Valley View’s city hall in the downtown square, the board of aldermen wrap up a morning meeting as the phone in the front reception area rings with people wanting to know how they can donate to the recovery efforts.
Mayor Janson Bewley and Mayor Pro Tem Joe Wilkerson look at their phones, answering a consistent string of texts and emails.
The men praised how quickly neighboring communities rushed to Cooke County’s aid and said they’re grateful for volunteers from near and far donating their time, efforts and resources.
“We just take care of each other. Always,” Wilkerson said. “It’s been that way my whole life here.”
Bewley said folks have been working at a constant, fast pace and they expect the immediate recovery efforts to start slowing. The city’s goal is to evaluate the community’s needs on a weekly basis to decide what’s most needed and to eventually begin consolidating the four centers holding donations down to one.
“We want all those who were impacted to come forward no matter what the state of damage is,” Bewley said. “There’s a lot of like, ‘Mine wasn’t as bad as theirs so I’ll just let that be,’ kind of approach. But we want everyone to utilize those resources because there are things out there for them.”
The men then returned to the front lines and crossed the street to the John Fortenberry Community Center, which has been one of the main locations for donation drop-off and pick-up.
Coolers and cases of bottled water are stacked high outside while tables inside are filled with the most necessary items like non-perishable food, nails, sunscreen and diapers.
Volunteer Ashley McGowan had been working at the center since Monday, making sure disaster victims were taken care of and attempting to secure donations for items that weren’t already available.
The long days of helping with little sleep have been worth it, she said, especially when she sees moments of joy and gratitude like the excitement on a little girl’s face when she found a My Little Pony toy.
“It’s humbling to see and I just know that after we get through this we’ll be able to pay it forward and our small town can help the next small town,” she said.
Those wanting to donate directly to people impacted in Cooke County can make a monetary donation to the Cooke County Volunteer Organization Active in Disaster’s fund at the First United Bank. Checks can be mailed to the bank at 101 E. Broadway Street, Gainesville, TX 76240 or call 940-665-3484.
