CNA Staff, May 22, 2025 /
16:13 pm
Local Catholic Charities organizations are rallying to support communities devastated by the more than 70 tornadoes that tore through the central United States on Friday and Saturday.
A series of large tornadoes wreaked havoc throughout Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois, and Indiana killing at least 28 people, injuring dozens, and causing billions of dollars in damage. The tornadoes reported across the Midwest caused damage to thousands of homes.
Most of the deaths happened in Kentucky during what the National Weather Service called the deadliest tornado in eastern Kentucky’s history.
Good neighbors in Kentucky
At least 19 people died in southeastern Kentucky, within the bounds of the Diocese of Lexington. The tornado pathway was 55.6 miles long, beginning in Russell County, crossing through Pulaski County, and ending in Laurel County, with the majority of fatalities in Laurel County. The storm wiped out large residential areas on the south side of London and later damaged the local airport.
The tornado was ranked at the second-highest rating on the Enhanced Fujita scale (EF-4) with wind speeds of up to 170 miles per hour.
Catholic Charities Diocese of Lexington is providing assistance in affected areas while looking ahead to support locals in long-term recovery from the disaster.
Executive director Shelli Gregory spoke with CNA from Somerset, one of the hardest-hit cities in the area in addition to London.
Gregory brought a mobile response center to St. Mildred’s Parish in Somerset, where she and other volunteers are handing out bedding, toiletries, and emergency food boxes as well as information on where other various supplies and food can be found.
“We called our parishes in the affected areas on Saturday — day after the storm — and asked them what they were hearing that people needed,” Gregory said.
In some areas, days of power outage means people are short on food. In other areas, homes have been leveled.
“Then there’s homes that are completely gone. I mean, just like, where are they? There’s nothing there but a concrete slab,” Gregory said.
But amid the disaster, people are banding together. Some families are housing others whose houses were destroyed in the storm. One woman is helping get storage units for people whose stuff “is being stolen from the rubble.”
“What you’re seeing a lot here is everybody is very concerned about their neighbors, not nearly as much concerned about themselves,” Gregory said.
Rebuilding a small Kansas town
In northwest Kansas, an EF-2 tornado tore through the town of Grinnell in Gove County on Sunday night, destroying more than a dozen homes in the town of 260 people.
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The tornado was destructive, but no deaths were reported. One of the two tornado sirens malfunctioned, according to the Gove County sheriff, so law enforcement drove through the streets warning people on a loudspeaker.
A tornado also hit about 200 miles southeast of Grinnell in western Reno County in Plevna, a city of 85 people. The tornado caused “extensive damage” to the town, but no deaths or injuries were reported.
Catholic Charities of Northern Kansas is providing emergency relief and long-term recovery support to families in Grinnell and affected neighboring areas, according to the executive director, Megan Robl.
“The road ahead is long, but we are committed to walking alongside this community for as long as we are needed — offering help, hope, and healing every step of the way,” Robl said in a statement.
With the help of a $25,000 grant from Catholic Charities USA, the organization hopes to help Grinnell rebuild.
“We are incredibly grateful to Catholic Charities USA for this generous $25,000 grant, which will go directly toward helping the Grinnell community recover and rebuild,” Robl said.
“We’re also deeply thankful for the prayers and support of so many across the Salina Diocese,” Robl added.
A ‘war zone’ in St. Louis
Missouri was also hit particularly hard by the storm, as seven people died, five of them in St. Louis. A mile-wide tornado tore through the northern part of St. Louis on Friday, causing more than $1.6 billion in damage in what Mayor Cara Spencer called “one of the worst storms” in the city’s history.
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of St. Louis is responding to an “overwhelming surge” of requests for aid in Missouri, where the most devastating tornado in decades in the city caused severe damage.
“It looks like a war zone,” said Jared Bryson, president and CEO of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, describing the scene in North City, St. Louis.
Bryson was speaking from his office, about two blocks from the “disaster zone” where an EF-3 tornado had ripped through, damaging or destroying an estimated 5,000 buildings.
“It came through so quick,” Bryson told “EWTN News Nightly” Capitol Hill Correspondent Erik Rosales. “People went from a house to nothing in a matter of minutes.”
Bryson said Catholic Charities is involved in helping city emergency managers “coordinate the efforts on the ground” and is also “part of the long-term recovery of the community.”
“[When] everybody’s attention turns to something else, we are still here as Catholic Charities for the next several years, till the community returns back,” Bryson said.
Kate Quiñones is a staff writer for Catholic News Agency and a fellow of the College Fix. She has been published by the Wall Street Journal, the Denver Catholic Register, and CatholicVote, and she graduated from Hillsdale College. She lives in Colorado with her husband.
