A year later, Malden continues to recover from tornado's wrath

MALDEN, Mo. -- A year after an EF2 tornado blew through the south side of Malden, residents continue working to get back to their "normal."

The entire town and area communities pitched in to offer assistance and to prove Malden was shaken, but not broken.

"I can't believe the love that we got from our surrounding communities, clubs and organizations," Mayor Denton Kooyman said. "The volunteers were amazing."

Once all the dust settled, damages totaled about $1.14 million and 113 homes were affected by the tornado.

Malden received several grants, but did not qualify for any state or federal funding. To qualify for government assistance, the town needed at least 300 homes effected or $8.5 million in damages.

While some of the residents effected by the storm had insurance, many did not and were at the mercy of state and national organizations for help.

According to Kooyman, a couple residents are still in the midst of rebuilding and repairing their homes, while others were just not able to afford the repairs needed.

"When the state comes in and tells people their house is not worth that, to them it was," he said. "It's unfair for the state to say that when that's someone's cherished belongings and all they have."

Kooyman said it's great that many residents stayed and are fixing up their homes.

"This is where they grew up and love the community," he said.

Several residents who decided to leave were able to sell their home or empty lot to a neighbor who are also slowly repairing the areas.

While some areas are receiving TLC from neighbors, others lots or homes were abandoned, Kooyman said.

The next step for the city will be to check on the abandoned lots once mowing season arrives. That's when the exact number, Kooyman said.

"Eventually when the grass and weeds get too tall, the city will have to ticket lots for not being kept and making it unsafe for the rest of the neighborhood," Kooyman said. "If people don't pay the tickets, the city will put a lien on and go in and mow."

The city was approved for a state grant for generators and electrical items, such as poles.

A power panel has been installed at the community center, but the city is still waiting on the generators for the community center and police station.

Kooyman said a "little bit of the money" was left from one of the grants and the city was recently given permission to use the remainder toward gravel and patch work for some of the roads on the south side of town.

"Some of the roads and alleyways were rutted out by heavy equipment brought in to do work," he said. "It's not much money, but at least we are using every cent we can in that area."

The majority of funds to help citizens rebuild came from a Lion's Club $10,000 grant, Catholic Charities, Red Cross, private donations and other groups.

For the most part, Kooyman said the city didn't spend that much money on tornado damage.

"It was a lot of overtime, fuel and stuff like that, but there was no damage to city buildings," he said. "It's just helping everybody else."

All cases of requesting for help were put into a file with the names blacked out to not show favoritism, he said.

Most requests were related to roof damage followed by windows and items destroyed inside homes by water.

"One lady had all her clothes out on the drying line when the tornado came through," Kooyman said. "Luckily, Hope International was able to help her with some clothes."

Kooyman said the city required citizens requesting help to gather three quotes since dealing with city finances.

About three families didn't do the legwork and get the quotes, Kooyman said, and most people have stopped requesting help at this time.

"I wish we could have helped those two or three more families, but if they don't want to do some of the work we can't do it for them," he said.

Jumping right in and helping from the night the tornado touched down in his city, Kooyman said "a story that will always stick with him" was helping a woman trapped inside her home.

Downed trees and power lines made getting inside the home difficult, even though Kooyman and Malden Police Officer Bobby Jones could see through the entire house from a distance.

Once inside, a woman was found who did not want to leave her home.

After assisting, Malden Police Chief Jarrett Bullock pulled Kooyman away and told him he needed to stay put, make decisions and "be mayor."

"That was the hardest part because it's in my nature to help," he said.

After one year since the tornado, Kooyman said the city is at the point where citizens might still need help, they are probably too proud to ask.

"We would still help them if we could," he said.

Red Cross offered one month of financial assistance for displaced citizens to stay in a hotel and some apartments were even utilized. Hope International also offered furniture to help those effected.

"We had several landlords step up and give deals while people were getting on their feet," Kooyman said.

Since going through a devastating disaster, Kooyman has been able to reflect and offer advice to other communities in the event an unthinkable act could happen.

"It was nice to have the community center location for people to go to," he said. "If any town has the opportunity to have a 'staging area,' that helps."

Look to surrounding communities for support, Kooyman added.

Officers from Bernie, Dexter, Poplar Bluff and other neighboring towns as well as State Highway Patrol made constant appearances in Malden to help keep order following the tornado.

"I wish we could pay them back for the overtime, but we will help if they ever need help," Kooyman said. "Mutual aid is key and it's amazing how people are willing to help."

Malden also found out when churches and other groups come together to feed citizens, it must be health department approved.

"I'm not picking on the health department because they were just doing their job, but while we were taking care of our own, the health department frowned upon that," he said.

Kooyman encouraged communities to find one location to cook meals and have the health department inspect it, such as a nutrition center or restaurant.

Political leaders also offered their support to Malden in the midst of recovery.

Kooyman praised Congressman Jason Smith's office for his constant communication and support.

"The morning after the tornado, I got a call from (Jason Smith) and it was cool to actually hear from him and ask what we needed," he said. "He told me his people would contact me every day and they did."

While in the midst of dealing with a tornado, one of the most complimented strategies Malden implemented was creating a short-term recovery group.

The Caring Council took care of the long-term recovery group, Kooyman said, but in a disaster, decisions are needed to be made quicker.

"That's why we made our own short-term recovery group to make quicker decisions weekly and daily if needed," he said.

Kooyman added the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and other agencies loved the idea, but added ideas were taken from the long-term recovery group, such as keeping names off requests.

"So, it's good to have both resources," he said.

While some residents are still in the early rebuilding phases, others have almost completely recovered from the tornado a year later, though the reminders will last for many more years to come.

"For the most part," Kooyman said, "I think we are doing good."