A TORNADO has destroyed the home of an Episcopalian priest on an Indian Reservation in South Dakota, in the United States, as he and his family sheltered inside. They were unharmed and escaped from the wreckage afterwards.
The priest, the Revd Kim Fonder and his wife, Tammy, were with their three grandchildren when the tornado hit. He said that when the winds calmed down he knew they had to get inside quickly, as the approaching tornado sounded like a “choo choo train”.
Tammy and the grandchildren, aged between two and 12, made it to the basement to seek shelter. As Fr Fonder was shutting the basement door, the house was lifted up by three inches, and the roof blew off.
He held on to the doorknob to stop himself blowing away, and prayed at the moment the house rose into the air.
The tornado lasted around five minutes, he said. It was only after they had made it inside the basement that the tornado warning pinged on their phone.
Once they emerged, they found their home destroyed, but their two dogs had survived by digging into some earth. Their horses had survived also, and were found standing among debris from the house.
The diocese of South Dakota has paid for the family to go into a motel and buy necessities. In the short term, the family have found a home to rent and a fund-raiser has been set up to buy them a new home. It has a $450,000 target, and by Wednesday morning had reached almost $6,000.
“This family, who never hesitate to help others, need help themselves. Let’s not hesitate to get this little family settled before the South Dakota winter is upon us,” the fund-raising message says.
Fr Fonder was ordained 15 years ago and serves seven churches on the Lower Brule Indian Reservation and the Crow Creek Indian Reservation. He previously worked at the Standing Rock Episcopal Mission and has served on the General Convention and held other churchwide leadership roles. Before ordination, he was a police officer, and became the youngest ever chief of police for South Dakota state aged 20.
The Fonders have owned the house for more than a quarter of a century, which had withstood four previous tornados, but “the fifth one has taken it,” he said.
“I blame what has happened on changing weather patterns but not on God. It’s our fault not God’s. He gave us this beautiful creation to care for and we have not taken care of it.”
The Bishop of South Dakota, the Rt Revd Jonathan H. Folts, told the Episcopal News Service: “This family is extraordinarily valuable to our faith community, and Kim has been a blessing in every place that he has served. Items can be replaced, and houses can be rebuilt. I’m so grateful to God that Kim and Tammy and their family are still here and that Kim’s ministry will be continuing.”