Volunteers build new home for victims of Alberta summer tornado

Elisa Humphreys barely had time for the emergency alert on her phone to register when she looked out her window to see the dull, gray, whirling form of a tornado bearing down on her.

She had only minutes to escape her Carstairs home, still clad in her pajamas with her cat and dog in tow.

What she saw when she returned shocked her.

“When I drove down the road, I couldn’t see my mobile home,” Humphreys recalled. “And so I thought, ‘Oh, maybe it just sort of tipped over and I could stand it back up again.’

“But when I arrived back here, it literally vanished — just vanished. It wasn’t like there was a piece of it broken in the front yard. It was just completely gone.”

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Even more surprising is Humphreys’ positive attitude in the aftermath of a life-changing natural disaster.

Dozens of people from around Alberta helped with the cleanup in the weeks after the tornado and now volunteers with Mennonite Disaster Services have stepped in to build Humphrey, her son and his family — his wife and their two kids — a new home.

“I helped a couple of days cleaning up (after the tornado),” volunteer Lowell Grass said.

Grass has worked with the organization for years, traveling as far as South Carolina to rebuild homes after a hurricane. But this time, help was needed in his own backyard.

“Just seeing all the massive destruction right after (the tornado) — it’s nice to see something new being built and new beginnings,” Grass said.

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Wintry weather didn’t deter crews from pouring the cement walls in the new walkout that will be able to withstand any more harsh weather events.

Humphreys believes the experience has brought the community together and ultimately become an outlet for healing.

“I thanked them for working alongside them and told them that I was doing it because it was my therapy,” Humphreys said. “The one fellow said it was his therapy, too, and he was quite sincere. He meant that.

“I think the whole process has been therapy for a lot of people.”

Since excavation started last week, almost too many people have come forward to volunteer their time.

With the crew on-site set, people have found other ways to contribute- even if it’s just supplying lunch.

“Last week, somebody texted me and said that they would donate all of the eavestrough labor and material,” Grass said. “There was an excavator here on Saturday, digging for eight hours at no charge. We’ve seen a lot of people really stepping up to donate not only labor but materials as well, or selling materials at cost.”

“They care more about you, I think, than the house that they’re building for you,” Humphreys added. “They’re wonderful, wonderful, caring people and this is now even a fabulous experience, as well as all the tornado cleanup. It’s just been amazing.”

Humphreys hopes to be in the new home by February, just in time for her son’s third child to arrive, marking new beginnings and a new life.

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