After tornado, this Arlington charity isn’t waiting for fridge, AC repairs to reopen
Despite losing power and refrigeration to the tornado that struck Arlington on Thanksgiving week, a local charity group is not waiting for repairs to catch up on food distribution and Christmas preparations.
Arlington Charities reopens Wednesday at 811 Secretary Drive after the storm took out the building’s power and phone service, as well as ripped refrigeration and air conditioning units from its roof. As they prepared Tuesday morning, staff and volunteers shuffled around the facilities by flashlight as they sorted donations. For the time being, the group is also pulling perishable food from rental refrigerator and freezer trucks.
“We wanted to be able to be up and running and have our food supply as soon as possible,” said Deborah Coppola, Arlington Charities executive director.
The EF2 tornado, which touched down late Nov. 24 and ripped through 5 miles of the city, injured three people and displaced more than 70 families. The tornado lasted around seven minutes and had winds up to 115 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
As many as 100 buildings sustained damage from the tornado, Fire Chief Don Crowson told the City Council Tuesday afternoon. He said the city is working on an after-action report, as well as a report on property losses. He said the city is not likely to qualify for federal aid based off the damage.
City staff have placed dumpsters in areas hit the hardest by the storm. The city is also offering curbside pickup for debris and expedited review of permits for repairs.
“We’ll do what we can to get folks back to some state of normal operations,” Crowson said in the meeting.
The damages to Arlington Charities set the group a week back in its preparations for the Christmas season, Coppola said. The group has helped about 200 families a day since the pandemic gained foothold in the U.S. in March.
“You layer on top of that the holiday season and then on top of that a tornado, we have individuals even more so that we feel, once we are back up and running later this week, that the need will surge,” Coppola said.
The tornado did not interfere with Arlington Charities’ Thanksgiving distribution, when the group handed out holiday fare to some 1,300 families, she said. While they usually distribute to fewer families during Christmas, volunteers have their work cut out for them.
“It’s a few short weeks between Thanksgiving and the Christmas holiday this year, so we were already on a tight deadline,” Coppola said.
Still, the group is grateful the damage was not worse.
Close by, part of a wall at the Burger Box at 2501 S. Cooper St. fell onto two cars in the restaurant’s drive-thru lane, Star-Telegram media partner WFAA-TV reported. The twister tore the roof off Safelite AutoGlass at 2411 S. Cooper St.
“When they showed pictures of Burger Box, I knew we were really close,” said Gail Longell, an Arlington Charities volunteer. “I was worried we would have damage, and we’re blessed that we didn’t have more damage than we did.”
Arlington Charities accepts donations between 8:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Monday through Friday. More information on volunteering and donations is available on the organization’s website, arlingtoncharities.org.
