Cassville Food Pantry Director Janet Mills said she panicked when the power went off during the overnight May 26 storm in Cassville.

“I had five freezers full of perishable food – a total of about 1,500 pounds,” she said. “I had no idea how long the power would be off, and all I could think about was keeping the food from going to waste.”

The next morning, Mills contacted the pantry’s 40 or so volunteers and began calling the 165 families in the community who are registered to receive food from the pantry.

“I let the families know we’d have extra food available immediately if they would like to have it,” she said.

The volunteers then mobilized for an unscheduled food distribution.

“The first challenge was opening the automated, overhead doors without electricity,” Mills said. “We needed to let light in so we could see what we were doing, plus we needed to be able to pass food through the open doors.”

With a little ingenuity and lots of labor, Mills and several volunteers managed to raise the doors and then began preparing boxes of frozen food for distribution.

Mills said she and the pantry’s volunteers were able to give away every bit of food in their freezers, and that nothing went to waste during the four days that the power was off. For that, she is thankful.

According to Mills, the Pantry will receive an extra delivery from Ozarks Food Harvest to replenish its freezers.

“With the extended power outage, people lost a lot of food,” she said. “I want the community to know that we’re here, and that we care about them. If you’re in need of food, please reach out to us.”

The Cassville Pantry is located at 800 W. 10th Street in Cassville. For information, call 417-8467871.

Just down the road to the west, at 10826 Farm Road 2172 in Cassville, the Ozarks Area Community Action Corporation (OACAC) Barry County Neighborhood Center, assists residents who suffered storm damage in a variety of ways, including with food and cleaning supplies.

Barry County Emergency Management Director David Compton, who is part of the Unmet Needs Committee, said the group is working to match available resources with families in need.

Through Compton’s coordination efforts, representatives from the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army were at OACAC’s Cassville neighborhood center Saturday to offer assistance to qualifying families.

“The Salvation Army provides gift cards for household necessities,” Compton said. “The Red Cross also offers essential items, along with grant programs to assist with minor repairs.”

Compton emphasizes that if families did not receive assistance from the Red Cross or Salvation Army on Saturday, they can still register with the Cassville OACAC office for available resources. For information, call 417-8472140.

One resource the Unmet Needs Committee is hoping to help with through the OACAC center is auto glass replacement.

“We are working on collecting funds to help with auto glass replacement, with 100 percent of the money to be used in Barry County,” Compton said.

Compton encourages people to stop in at the OACAC office.

“After almost 10 days without electricity in places, we’re now deep in the recovery phase,” he said. “OACAC can help. They have food boxes, cleaning supplies and rakes, shovels and gloves available – delivered by Convoy of Hope.”

Compton said families who receive SNAP benefits, and who suffered food loss from the power outage, can contact the Division of Family Services to have their SNAP benefits reloaded on their cards.

On May 30, Acting Governor Kehoe issued Executive Order 24-07, extending Missouri’s State of Emergency declaration in response to severe weather that has impacted communities across the state in recent weeks. Governor Mike Parson first declared a State of Emergency on May 2, 2024, through Executive Order 24-06.

On June 3, Kehoe announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will participate in joint Preliminary Damage Assessments (PDAs) of public infrastructure in Barry, Bollinger, Butler, Carter, Howell, McDonald, Madison, New Madrid, Oregon, Reynolds, Ripley, Scott, Shannon, Stoddard, and Texas counties following severe storms, flooding, and tornadoes that occurred May 19-27.

“The State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) has been on the ground helping local officials document damage, collect cost estimates, and substantiate the need for federal assistance,” Kehoe said. “Initial damage reports clearly warrant a formal review by FEMA as part of the disaster declaration process.”

According to Kehoe’s press release, the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) continues to coordinate with local officials, fellow state agencies, and volunteer and faith-based partners to identify needs and assist impacted families and individuals.

Missourians with unmet needs are encouraged to contact United Way by dialing 2-1-1 or the American Red Cross at 1-800-733-2767. For additional resources and information about disaster recovery in Missouri, including general cleanup information, housing assistance, and mental health services, residents can visit recovery.mo.gov.

In Barry County, Compton said he is currently working with the state and federal representatives to validate the impact of storms on homes and businesses in Barry County.

“We’re hoping Barry County will qualify for a direct grant, to be determined by FEMA,” Compton said, although he added that the grants are hard to obtain. “Another option with a FEMA declaration could be sub-prime, low-interest loans for repairs.

“FEMA looks at the impact of a storm on your community – the overall damage – and how well you can be expected to recover.’

In Barry County’s favor, as far as qualifying for a FEMA grant, is that it’s contiguous to Benton County, Ark., which suffered extensive damage.

A public assistance declaration from FEMA could help rural electric cooperatives with the cost of replacing their power lines, as well as pay entities for clearing downed trees from the sides of public roadways, Compton said.

Compton said there are volunteer chainsaw organizations such as the Missouri Baptist Chainsaw Team and Samaritan’s Purse, but with the record number of tornadoes in the Midwest this spring, they are spread thin and their services are hard to procure.

According to a recent article in The New York Times, 500 tornadoes were reported, nationwide, in May, more than any month for the past five years. While May is typically the top-ranking month for tornadoes, the average for May in previous years has been 275.

Mills said she really felt the power of community at work during the aftermath of the May 26 storm.

“Property damage is traumatic,” she said. “But, I saw people helping each other in power and deed. I’m just thankful no lives were lost.”