DAWSON SPRINGS, Ky. — Tornado recovery efforts are moving slowly for some residents of Dawson Springs and a shortage of building materials may be to blame.
The December 10 EF-4 tornado caused a tremendous amount of damage in the small town of Dawson Springs in western Kentucky. For residents trying to repair their homes, timelines may be uncertain because of a shortage of building supplies.
Brandon Burkholder and his crew are volunteers from Pennsylvania. There are spending a week in Dawson Springs helping as many residents as they can make repairs to their homes.
“A lot of people in our community are familiar with construction. The people that aren’t, learn,” Burkholder told Spectrum News 1.
Burkholder says his team is working for free. They’ve brought a large contractor’s trailer with plenty of tools to get jobs done and the individual homeowners must provide the building materials, lumber, shingles, windows, and nails.
Here in lies a problem for many homeowners as new lumber is expensive and in short supply at the moment. So residents are getting creative.
“The roof was in good shape. It just moved the house off the foundation so when they do that they have to tear it down,” one homeowner said.
A Dawson Springs man told Spectrum News 1 he bought the roofing tin from a neighbor whose home was destroyed in the storm. He’s also purchased “rough cut,” long boards to reinforce his roof.
“You can’t by 1x’s nowhere,” the homeowner said.
Everything Burkholder is using to patch this roof with is reclaimed.
“A lot of roofing. They are framing a porch at the one place. We are also doing drywall finishing. That’ a lot of the work we do.”
For many people, repairing their homes using secondhand material might be their best option when the alternative is waiting indefinitely.
“You need some nails, they give you a handful. When you need screws they give you a handful. You know a handful of nails and a handful of screws what are you gonna build, a doghouse?” one homeowner said.