CCDBR brings relief to tornado victims

Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Baton Rouge immediately activated its disaster relief team in the wake of a tornado that struck the village of Tangipahoa on Feb. 7.

House trailers were overturned, structures suffered significant damage and part of a convenience store collapsed.

Remarkably, there were no fatalities and less than five people suffered what were considered minor injuries.

By the following afternoon, the CCDBR relief workers were on site, delivering kits containing hygiene items, tarps, blankets, diapers and children’s activity kits.

“When Food for the Poor (a Catholic nonprofit based in Florida) asked us to pre-position relief supplies, we knew it wouldn’t be a matter of ‘if’ but rather ‘when’ a disaster hit.  Our agency is often first in and last out after a disaster hits, and having these items on hand from Food for the Poor helps to respond even faster and more completely. They share our Catholic mission,” said David Aguillard, CCDBR executive director.

Tangipahoa Parish President Robby Miller called the low number of injuries “divine intervention.”

“I want to thank our good Lord because we did not have any fatalities,” Miller said. “If you drive through there, and you see the destruction of homes that you can’t tell they are homes, pushed against a tree and 30 feet into the air, and we had no fatalities, no doubt the good Lord was watching over that area.”