MAYFIELD, Ky. — It’s been the hardest year of Sondra Collins’ life, yet the most hopeful. One year since she lost her mother and her home in a pair of tragedies, hope lives on.
No one knew how bad it was until after the sun came up. Mayfield, a town of ten thousand people, was devastated by an EF-4 tornado on Dec. 10, 2021.
It would take days to count the dead, weeks to tally the damage and months more to clear the debris.
“The tornado come right over me,” Collins recalled. She said she’s been doing better these past few months.
Like thousands of Kentuckians, 180 mile-per-hour winds destroyed Collins’ home. It was one blow precluded by another. The catastrophic storm came just a few days after Collins’ mother died from Covid.
“They had her in the hospital for a month, and she never did come back out,” Collins explained.
She’s been grieving and living with her sister ever since. “I don’t think I’ve experienced what I’ve should have experienced, losing my mom and then this happening and being displaced.”
The storm cut a path of destruction through the Graves County town. It also threw Mayfield into a housing crisis, especially for residents like Collins who were renting.
For affected residents without family or close friends, there were few options other than finding a new home elsewhere.
Twelve months later, Collins still has hope for the future. Not only is she working again, she’s part of a building project for lower income renters like herself.
It’s a development offering low-interest mortgages for people who lost their homes to the tornado.
“It’s starting to inspire people now because for so long we didn’t have anything.” Collins said. She’s applied to a similar home-buying program in another neighborhood and part of that process is having steady employment.
“I got this job to work so I could get a home to pay the taxes and stuff… but Samaritan’s Purse is the one that I’m going through to get my home,” Collins explained.
It’s been one year since Collins lost her mom and one year since she lost her home. Every day, she works to rebuild her life and every day it gets a little better.
“I’m scared and I’m nervous… but I know God is sending this to me,” she said. “This is where he wants me to be.”