Warehouse provides essentials for Gordon Co. tornado victims

An outpouring of support continues to come in for Gordon County tornado victims. A tornado tore through dozens of homes in Calhoun in late January. With little help from the federal government, a special organization is stepping up to lend a helping hand.

Disaster relief workers opened a warehouse off of Highway 53 last week where storm victims can get what they need to feed their families. Everything in the warehouse is donated from various churches and charitable organizations. A truck from a church in Tennessee donated more than $120,000 worth of supplies.

"People are in shock when they come in here. I've never been through it, but I guess if I lost my home and everything I owned, I wouldn't be thinking very clearly," said Terry Haight of Adventist Disaster Response.

More than 140 people have visited the warehouse, including Angela Nepolitano.

"You work every day and you finally get everything that you work for and then it's just taken all away. You don't really want to be here doing this, but it definitely helps," Nepolitano said.

Since storm victims did not receive federal assistance, workers say every bit helps.

"So many of these people no longer have homes or their homes are about to be condemned," Haight said.

Relief workers expect to be in town for another six weeks.

"We try to hold it to about a four-day supply. They can come back every four days. Part of reason of that  is we don't want to start interfering with the local economy," Haight said.

Relief workers say they are going to try and help homeowners with the next phase of recovery. That includes moving into temporary homes and supplying those homes with everything they need.