Community at large, businesses and partnerships help Bucyrus to recover from EF1 tornado

The storm hasn't seemed to have ended for a Kaler Avenue homeowner.

As recently as this week his home is still settling in after being lifted off its foundation.

Eric Thomas's two-story home is dangerously titled, and he said within the past two days its titled in two directions.

“Just within the last 24 hours or so it's now shifted back the other direction,” Thomas said Monday. “It keeps shifting.”

Thomas is waiting for his property to be demolished, and compensation from his insurance company.

When the EF1 tornado happened April 17 in Bucyrus, Thomas, who worked a night shift that night, was at home on the second floor of his house. He felt the house move, grabbed his Border Collie, Toby, and went outside.

He was unable to get his furniture out of the house as both the front and the back doors are jammed shut.

Thomas, who now lives with his parents in Bucyrus, was alerted the house was still shifting by his father.

Friends and coworkers offering help

“My dad told me last night, like you got to check out your house,” Thomas said. “I was very surprised. I get in here – it's like, oh, wow, that really did move for sure.”

Thomas said his coworkers and people in the community, even those he had never met before and those he had not talked to in years, helped him to overcome the stressful situation.

“It was overwhelming at one point, just everybody was like, hey, you know, you need a place to live, let me know if you need anything,” Thomas said. “It was a good feeling, though. It was good that people were willing to offer their help.”

Thomas said he bought the Kaler Avenue house in February 2021; it was his first house.

He said even though he is expecting to be reimbursed by his insurance company, with the housing market as tough as it is and high interest rates, it will be more difficult for him to buy a house than it was a few years ago.

“I'm house hunting right now,” Thomas said. “If you know anybody who's selling their house, let me know. I'm definitely in the market.”

Crawford County continues recovering from the tornado that hit it April 17. Crawford Partnership, developer of greenfield utility-scale solar projects Wombat Solar and cleaning service Magnificent Maid programs helped businesses recover. People in the community offered help as well.

Crawford Partnership: zero-interest loan

Crawford Partnership, in partnership with the Community Foundation of Crawford County, created a business relief loan program that offers 0 percent interest on a $10,000 loan from the Recover Crawford Business Relief Loan fund.

“What we did is we put together a business relief loan program,” said President and CEO of The Crawford Partnership David Zak.

David Zak, president and CEO of Crawford Partnership, said applications from four businesses have been finalized for the loan.

He said the loan is considered short-term, and businesses will need to repay it in one-three years, depending on circumstances.

“That’s a working capital loan,” Zak said.

Wombat Solar grants

Wombat Solar created a grant program for the businesses and nonprofits about 12 hours after the tornado to show support to the community.

“When we heard about the tornadoes coming through, we knew that there were going to be businesses that needed help, nonprofits that needed help,” said Leah Cordy, director of community relations. “So we offered each business up to $2,500 until our funds ran out.”

She said 15 businesses received a total of $31,000. She said the money is intended for immediate assistance and can be of use while the entities await insurance payments that might take months to come through.

Businesses and nonprofits that benefited from the program include The Copper Irons, Print Happier, Rustic Roots Beauty, Salvation Army and more. The grant amount received depended on the severity of the damages.

Cordy said the application process was simple, asking for basic information on the business, tax information and a description of damages received from the storm.

Bucyrus Salvation Army Major Tom Grace said the organization applied for the grant in order to help families that were out of power and unable to access meals. Grace said the Salvation Army immediately stocked its pantry, and will use the grant from Wombat Solar to pay the cost of the food supplies.

Grace said they ended up assisting with food and personal care items for six households and 103 individuals who live in those households.

Jared Miller, owner of Fair Price Realty, also received a grant from Wombat Solar to help mitigate the effects of the storm. Miller said he would use the funds to pay the contractors to repair the damaged properties.

“All my properties are not insured,” Miller said. “It’s sort of a direct cost to me.”

Charla Wurm-Adams from Media Seed said the generosity of Wombat Solar went above and beyond to help save her business and keep it alive during the natural disaster.

Missie Striker from Castle Auctions and Appraisals said the tornado relief donation made a big difference and helped the small business recover. Leslie Barto from The Computer Guru said the grant from Wombat Solar was helpful in the interim before they could get insurance payments.

“They were the first ones to offer us help,” Barto said.

This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Grants, loans help Bucyrus businesses get back on feet post-tornado