The Militant (logo)  

Vol. 72/No. 8      February 25, 2008

 
Workers organize solidarity
after tornadoes hit U.S. South
 
BY SUSAN LAMONT
AND RACHELE FRUIT  
LAFAYETTE, Tennessee, February 9—“There was no siren, no warning, nothing like that,” said Michael Agee, standing in the rubble of what used to be his brother-in-law’s furniture warehouse. Agee, who works at an aluminum plant in Carthage, Tennessee, was among the many volunteers and family members sifting through the remains of homes and small businesses in this section of town, one of the hardest hit by the tornadoes that struck Macon County February 5.

That night, a system of 67 tornadoes swept through parts of Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, and Georgia. In Macon County alone, 14 people were confirmed dead and 218 were still missing as of today. Several hundred homes and trailers were destroyed, with hundreds more severely damaged. In the six states affected, nearly 60 people died, making these the deadliest tornadoes in more than 20 years. The death toll may still grow as officials and volunteers sift through the destruction.

“They asked people to volunteer, so I’m here,” said Alberto González, 37, getting out of a pickup. “Today I help this man, because tomorrow it could be me.” González, his brother Pablo, and his friend Fernando Martínez, all three lumber workers, were on hand to help clear the damage.

Among those impacted by the tornadoes that struck this rural county near the Kentucky border were several thousand immigrant workers, mainly from Mexico. Many work on tobacco farms in the area, at a sewing plant, or at a plastics factory in town.

Antonio Soto, 38, is helping to organize relief efforts at the Iglesia de Dios (Church of God). Volunteers are compiling a list of desaparecidos (the disappeared) in the Hispanic community and collecting funds to help the families of those killed—so far three—to send their bodies home to Mexico.

“This costs at least $6,000 for each person,” said Josué González, pastor of the church, where clothes and other aid is being collected. González said that the police, Red Cross, and other authorities have so far been of no help to the immigrant community in locating those missing.

“The roads in the worst areas have been blocked off by the police, and we have only just gotten permission to help in the search for bodies,” he said.

“But it’s too late,” Maria Hernández, from the Hispanic Association in nearby Red Boiling Springs, pointed out. “They won’t begin the search until Monday at the earliest, and the storm came through last Tuesday night.” Some of the missing may be in hospitals in other parts of Tennessee, unable to contact their families, Josué González said.

President George Bush visited the area February 8, promising aid to those who need help rebuilding. But, in a Militant interview the next day, an employee of the Federal Emergency Management Agency described the hoops someone has to go through to qualify for federal aid, most of which is in the form of loans. The most repeated word was “eligibility.”  
 
 
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