Tornado Victims Help

Some local tornado victims persisted for months, hoping somebody would listen to their re-building troubles. A representative from the Lt. Governor's office heard their pleas two weeks ago, on Monday

Tuesday, October 5th 1999, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Some local tornado victims persisted for months, hoping somebody would listen to their re-building troubles. A representative from the Lt. Governor's office heard their pleas two weeks ago, on Monday Mary Fallin herself returned to Cherokee County with promising news. Contractors are still a few weeks away from finishing Pauline and Bob Brown's new home. It's one of the only signs of re-birth in their neighborhood. In June, a tornado destroyed the Browns home, and several nearby homes. The Browns dipped into their savings to pay what insurance wouldn't. Many neighbors, including Al and Denise Lowery, don't have enough in savings, so their re-building projects remain on hold. Denise Lowery, tornado victim says "I'm not looking for anybody to give me anything, I would like a low-interest loan so I can rebuild what I had." Neighbors say government workers told them there wasn't enough damage for assistance like that. Lt. Governor Mary Fallin says there is, but she wants to play the "fix-it game" not the "blame game." Lt. Gov Mary Fallin says "so we are here to fix it, we're here to make things happen and boy, are we going to make it happen for you." Fallin told tornado victims next week state, federal and non-profit agency workers will come to Cherokee County to see how they can help.
Lowery adds "to me, it's just like the icing on the cake." As Pauline Brown waits for her new home, she attends the meetings and says she's not worried about herself, but others. "That's what we've been striving for four months, is to help our neighbors." And neighbors say because they've pulled together and the future is looking brighter. The Lt. Governor says tornado victims will also receive help from Feed the Children. And a disaster relief team will help finish the clean-up in the area.