Local man's desire to help draws volunteers to disaster scene
A disaster this week has shown how united Pittsburg County is in the face of adversity.
On Monday, May 19, two preliminary rating EF-2 tornadoes hit Pittsburg County. Most of the damage took place in Blanco, but Pittsburg also received severe damage along with the stretch of Highway 63 between the towns. Those storms destroyed 10 during the disaster. One person sustained injuries, but there were no fatalities from these tornadoes.
Since then, Pittsburg High School has accepted donations for those affected by the tornadoes. Businesses and individuals have donated countless items to Blanco Baptist Church so it can be a spot for its community to turn to.
There are countless volunteers working at and behind the scenes. Joshua Padilla is one of those volunteers using his resources from JP All American Outdoor Contracting to help those in need.
Monday evening, Padilla chased one tornado and got fairly close to it. He turned around to avoid getting hit before coming back later.
'I drove into Blanco, and I seen how much devastation there was here (SIC),' Padilla said.
His reaction was to get the saw he had with him.
'We got out of the truck and immediately got to work helping the fire crews clear the roads,' he said.
He and several others worked throughout the night before contacting his workers. He said they needed to get ready, because they were helping with the storm disaster in Blanco. Then they were back early the next morning.
'We were here by 7 o'clock the next morning, and we started rolling in with all the equipment and getting started getting everything cleaned up,' Padilla said.
Some of the equipment they brought included skid loaders, dump trucks, bucket trucks and more.
That night, he went to one of the Pittsburg County contracting groups on Facebook he is in and reached out for help.
'I said, 'Hey let's get some volunteers out here for all of the contractors to come out, you know, and try to organize and donate some help 'cause we're going to need it,'' he said.
They have had people come out and dedicate their time to help him with this project.
'We're here for the long haul,' Padilla said, who responded to the scene since Monday evening. 'We're still here cleaning, helping them get cleaned up, making sure they're taken care of.'
They have cleared over 20 properties in Blanco. The goal, he said, is to take care of all the damaged trees, leaving only stumps and hauling it away. They have also raked lawns for homeowners.
'Right now, in this town, we're going to try to get all the debris off the roads and stuff like that cleaned up,' Padilla said about some of his last steps in Blanco.
He said they will branch out and help other areas out, too. That includes going wherever the damage is, but said they will start moving east toward Hartshorne. Padilla wants to make sure everybody is cut out, so they can get in and out of their driveways.
Bruce Brannon, the pastor at Blanco's Baptist Church, expressed his gratitude for what Padilla and the community have done.
'He's not taking any money. It's all volunteer,' Brannon said.
Padilla says it is not only him putting his time and resources into the project, but also the help of his workers and other volunteers.
He continues to use Facebook to gather more people. It is easier to plan when and where to meet and gives him time to coordinate what jobs to give to people.
'When disaster strikes, when everything goes bad, we can always depend on each other to come together and work together for the greater good,' Padilla said. 'I have all my equipment, but these are the guys running and operating that equipment.'
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