XENIA, Ohio — This December, the planes leaving Skydive Greene County aren’t full of passengers and parachutes, but diapers, shampoo, children’s toys and gift cards headed on a one-way trip to western Kentucky.
After seeing the devastation on the news, Kelly West, the business’s operating manager, said she felt a call to action because 47 years ago, it was her hometown facing the same fate.
On Dec. 10, 58 tornadoes swept across parts of the south and Midwest, killing 69 people, with most of the destruction concentrated in western Kentucky.
“Those towns look very much like Xenia looked — there’s nothing left of entire neighborhoods,” West said.
In 1974, an EF5 tornado hit Xenia, Ohio. The aftermath killed 35, damaged more than 3,400 homes and left thousands in need of immediate support.
“I’ll never forget it,” West said. “I was 8 and my dad was here skydiving, so he rushed home and tried to shove us all into the storm cellar.”
She said the tornado passed by her family’s property but she was close enough to see the dark cloud hit downtown Xenia and the immediate aftermath.
“It’s unfathomable to see an entire neighborhood wiped off. The homes are just gone. It looks like a bomb hit the city,” she said. “We had a long rebuilding process afterwards.”
According to Catherine Wilson, the executive director of the Greene County Historical Society and another tornado witness, the recovery cost more than $95 million.
“There are still scars from 40 years ago,” she said.
Wilson said she hid out the storm crouched in her bathtub with her mother and sister as the storm ripped off her roof. Because of the trauma, she said it’s difficult to watch the news when another similar disaster occurs.
“A lot of people never came back,” she said. “Our neighbors on one side never came back. They moved to Dayton and stayed there.”
Despite it all though, Wilson said most people did return, including her family to help their hometown bounce back, and while downtown will never be the same, she believes Xenia is still the city she grew up in.
“I disagree with the people who say the tornado ripped the heart out of Xenia. I don’t believe that,” she said.
West stayed in town too, taking over her family skydiving business, and now, she said she’s in a position to use it for good. Partnering with Steel Aviation and pilots across Ohio, West started a supply and toy drive for the people impacted by the Kentucky tornadoes. Her pilots plan to fly down at least three times before the holidays.
“To us, it was just a call to action to help these people in Kentucky and make sure that the children had a Christmas,” she said.
West said through her partnerships, she was able to get in touch with volunteers and organizers on the ground in Kentucky able to report back the greatest needs. Right now, she said that’s personal hygiene supplies and storage containers, as well as funds to help people gather groceries and other necessities.
“What you hear or see in the media isn’t necessarily what is needed with the boots on the ground,” she said.
West said her pilots plan to take one more trip before Christmas but she’ll continue collecting funds until through the end of the month.
“Until you live through it or view it yourself, you have no idea what it’s like to experience it,” she said.