By Ray Birch
MAYFIELD, Ky.—“It’s all gone,” an emotional Mark Spillman told CUToday.info late Monday about what he saw last Saturday as he drove inside the city limits of the tiny town of Mayfield following devastating tornadoes.
“The town square, which was surrounded by four beautiful churches and a courthouse, it’s all gone. The candle factory, it’s destroyed. And the local chicken processing plant—our largest employer—it’s rubble,” said Spillman, who runs the only credit union in this town of 10,000 people that was wiped out by the rash of deadly tornadoes that swept through the Midwest.
Spillman is CEO of the $25-million Your Hometown FCU here, which was “remarkably” spared any damage from the storm.
Spillman acknowledged that following the tornadoes he was prepared to see his cooperative torn to its foundation.
“I live about 10 miles south of Mayfield,” explained Spillman. “I could not get into town until mid-day Saturday because the tornadoes swept across the interstate and made part of it unpassable for a while. There were huge trees scattered everywhere. But when I got to Mayfield the credit union was standing. It was unharmed.”
Your Hometown FCU was operating Monday on generator power with a spotty Internet, fighting to keep the credit union’s DP system running. Two employees were working at the credit union with the rest of the staff, including Spillman, out in the town “doing whatever is needed.Before he headed into Mayfield, Spillman said he was “walking the fields” around his country home that was spared any damage. But his neighbors were not so fortunate.
“One of my neighbors, his wife and their two children all lost their lives from the storm,” said Spillman. “I have a good friend who works at the candle factory that was destroyed. They finally found his body.”
The death toll in Mayfield rose to 74 on Tuesday, with still more than 100 people unaccounted for.
Spillman is familiar with tornadoes, having just survived a twister that destroyed his home about 18 months ago.
“We just moved, back in in August, back into our home that was rebuilt,” said Spillman. “This is the third tornado I have lived through, and without a doubt in my mind there's someone in our lives bigger than us who’s in control.”
Turning Away from a School
It’s a view he came to after an earlier experience with a tornado.
“I was driving the school bus and was waiting to load kids on the bus and I looked up and a tornado was coming across the field,” Spillman recalled. “It got within a tenth of a mile of the school and literally took a 90-degree turn and went around the school.”
While some Mayfield residents’ homes were spared by the weekend’s storm, most people were still living in makeshift shelters in the days that have followed.
“They have no power at home. No heat. The lack of power is one of our biggest problems now,” he said.
Spillman understands his 2,400 members are going to have many needs, and he pledged Your Hometown FCU will do all that it can to get the community through the terrible time as the town rebuilds and people move on with their lives.
Where to Begin?
He emphasized the needs are so great he did not know Monday where to begin in addressing member requests for assistance that will be coming soon. “I really don’t know how to answer that question right now,” he said.
“We are a resilient town,” continued Spillman. “We will come back from this. All of the assistance that our town is receiving, people coming from all over the nation. There are tractor trailers lined up along the highway full of water, food and other supplies. It's amazing to see the amount of support that has poured in to this town. It's very humbling.
“I think our community needs prayer as much as anything right now,” continued Spillman, who acknowledged it was difficult for him to speak about the tragedy. “We will survive. But it’s going to be a long road. This town has been completely wiped out. But we will survive this.”