Photos courtesy of Grove City Church of the Nazarene
“All the poles were down and so… people really couldn’t get in or out while they were lifting and putting poles in and everything,” says Benson. “Dave Arrell, myself and our CFO all stayed here on campus and the rest of staff we called and said, ‘Help the community figure out what you need to do.’”
April 3, 2018 is a date that Dale Benson will never forget. At approximately 5:30 p.m. from his parsonage at the back of Grove City Church of the Nazarene and Christian School, where Benson is senior pastor, he watched with his daughter and a friend as hail began to fall. It wasn’t until he turned his gaze skyward and noticed debris swirling through the air that he knew something was wrong.
“We were taking pictures of the hail and went back inside…when the sirens went off,” says Benson. “It was kind of weird looking. And so I turned back to look across the building, and stuff was swirling above the building.”
The church and school took a direct hit from the EF1 tornado. The EF, or Enhanced Fujita Scale, rates to the severity of a given tornado, based upon wind speed and the type of damage incurred. This particular tornado had a 75-yard wind path, wind speeds of 105 miles per hour, and was at or near the ground for two and a half miles. Thankfully, no one was hurt or killed; amazing, considering the event occurred after school hours when athletic teams were practicing outside.
David Arrell, director of education at Grove City Christian School, was actually in the building during the weather event along with about 100 other individuals. Arrell has experience with these situations, having dealt with the aftermath of the EF4 tornado that ripped through southern Indiana and Kentucky in 2012 killing 34 people.
“Leaders on our campus knew what to do. Our kids knew what to do and they went to the right spot,” says Arrell. “It’s interesting, kind of the bouncing path of the storm pretty much went right over where they were in the protected safe spot.”
Arrell’s experience in Indiana allowed him to bring a unique perspective on how such events should be handled, specifically at Grove City Christian School.
“The big thing is making sure our coaches know the safety protocols,” Arrell says. “Last year we had our fall coaches’ meeting where I presented a plan and then, as I onboarded people for the winter, I made sure that they all had that plan.”
Although the scientific community now knows more about tornadoes, it is still a mystery as to when a tornado will form. Having a plan of action that everyone can follow, like the one in place at Grove City Church of the Nazarene and Christian School, is key to minimizing the harm that these storms are capable of causing.
1 of 3
“AEP ended up using our parking lot as their staging area for the downed poles here and down the street,” says Benson.
2 of 3
The church and school sustained a little over $700,000 in damage to the air conditioning units on top of the building, the roof, windows, outside façade and other places where debris made contact.
3 of 3
“We had engineers come in to make sure the building was safe,” says Arrell. “Because of where the roof was lifted, when it came back down, a wire that was servicing the smoke detector system (was exposed) and so we had to troubleshoot that.”“We had local support that was just phenomenal … first responders, utility and the City of Grove City was great, “Arrell says. “We were standing together when the superintendent of the South-Western City School District called me and said, ‘What do you need?’”
Nathan Collins is managing editor. Feedback welcome at ncollins@cityscenemediagroup.com.
