SULLIVAN COUNTY — Pictures and video of the tornado that ripped through Delaware and Randolph counties last week brought the heavy feelings back for Clint Lamb.
"It’s coming up on the one-year anniversary and I'll be quite honest with you. Last Thursday night, I was suffering a little PTSD," said Lamb, the former mayor of Sullivan.
Lamb was in the office a year ago when a tornado killed three people and damaged more than 240 homes and businesses in his rural community.
"People's lives were literally ripped up and flung away," he said.
The way Sullivan County officials handled their recovery effort that is a model for how state officials are responding to the devastation left by last week's tornado.
"As we experienced in Sullivan about a year or so ago," Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter said during a news conference from Winchester on Friday, "The wrath of this really begins today when people realize the magnitude of the destruction."
Sullivan officials told WRTV they did what Hoosiers do when times are tough, they got together and got to work.
It took a few days to get over the initial shock, but Sullivan soon organized the many workers, residents and volunteers on hand to get help where it was needed most.
“Democrat, Republican, independent, you're here for people,” said Jim B. Pirtle, director of Sullivan County’s Emergency Management Agency.
Pirtle was among the dozens of Sullivan County families who lost their homes in the EF3 tornado that hit on March 31, 2023.
He and his wife lived in neighboring Vigo County for the nine months it took to rebuild.
First and most important was the search and rescue effort, Pirtle said. Then came finding housing for the many displaced families.
Finally, comes the long process of repairing and rebuilding.
It takes teamwork, he said.
“We got to work together, and we got to come together as a team and I think that day of the tornado and the following month or so on and still today, we've proven that,” Pirtle said.
J.D. Wilson, Sullivan's current mayor, was the city’s public works director when the tornado struck last year.
He said one big lesson is that recovery is a long, slow process.
“It's a long recovery for a community that's been hit by a natural disaster like that,” Wilson said. “One year after our tornado, the sun's shining. We had a lot of dark days over the last year, but the sun is shining and it's getting reestablished.”
Former-mayor Lamb served three terms in the office before Wilson took over in January.
He said the biggest piece of advice he’d give to Selma and Winchester is their communities will need donations of money.
“Three months from now, six months from now, and a year from now, there is no financial figure that is ever going to make everybody whole,” he said.
Folks can donate to Winchester residents through the Wabash Valley Community Foundation at randolphcountyfoundation.org/ways-to-give/donate.
Heart of Indiana United Way is managing a fund to help meet the long-term needs of tornado victims in Delaware and Randolph counties. To donate, click here.
No one died but officials said at least 40 people were injured in the EF3 tornado that hit Selma and Winchester on Thursday.
In Winchester, 110 homes were damaged and 22 were destroyed.
Selma officials said about half of the Delaware County community's buildings were damaged by the tornado.
Contact WRTV reporter Vic Ryckaert at victor.ryckaert@wrtv.com or on X/Twitter: @vicryc.
