Now the tower is gone, and the future of the city’s infrastructure is in question.
The tornado struck just two weeks before Christmas.
There was a fierce determination that the blessings would overpower the grief.
First Christian Church of Mayfield after the December 10th, 2021 EF4 tornado.Credit: Andrew Hyslop
She assumed this one would be the same and fell asleep on the couch.
On Saturday morning, Delk, who lives just outside Mayfield, woke up safe.
Delk got into her car and headed toward the fairgrounds, where she has worked for 24 years.
Mayfield has been Sandra Delk’s lifelong home. She is driven to help her neighbors recover, no matter how long it takes.Credit: Andrew Hyslop
Just a mile or so away, Delk found entire neighborhoods wiped out.
After a few days, several warehouse-size spaces were filled with everything from baby formula to winter coats.
There was no time for a formal title for the person at the helm of this operation.
The fire department was badly damaged, and injured people relied on neighbors like Jennifer Rukavina-Bidwell for rides to the hospital.
“I’m the woman in the yellow jacket,” Delk says.
“I wore it from the first day because it’s got pocketslots of themand I love pockets.
That was good so people could say, ‘Find Sandy in the yellow jacket.’
A view of First Baptist Church Mayfield through a broken window at First Christian Church of Mayfield after an EF4 tornado destroyed much of downtown.
Every day from early morning until suppertime, she kept things moving in the donation center she created.
Delk has been in awe of the kindness displayed by others.
She recalls a family who came in because they needed assistance but wanted to do their part first.
Dr. Milton West, senior minister of First Christian Church of Mayfield, stands in the rubble of the former sanctuary.Credit: Andrew Hyslop
“And they did,” she says.
“They walked in, signed up, got their yellow vests, and started helping.”
Her motivation was simple.
“I was born and raised here,” she explains.
“I can’t imagine living anywhere else.”
The scenes she saw when she first made it into downtown are images that will haunt her.
She got her first job at Princess Theaters making 95 cents an hour.
All of those markers of her personal history have been destroyed.
Yet she’s hopeful.
“Those are memories that I have, and these spots are just gone,” she says.
“But the town will be rebuilt, and we’re going to have to make new memories.
That’s what we do.”
He was at work that night.
As soon as she knew it was safe, Jennifer took off toward her shop.
“I watched until it was through.
Even amid the trauma still unfolding all around, her mind was focused on how she could help.
“I had to park blocks from the store and walk,” Jennifer says.
They were barefoot, muddy, and bloody.
“I didn’t want to get in the way.”
The damage to their Mayfield shop was catastrophic, and the building has been declared a total loss.
But they still wanted to do more.
Just like Delk, the Bidwells are confident that there is a future for this resilient Kentucky town.
“People here look to their faith to power them through,” says Jennifer.
Another member of the church leadership phoned as well and confirmed the worst-case scenario.
He told West, “There’s rubble everywhere.”
The original building, erected in 1912, was a total loss.
“The sanctuary was exposed, and what was left of the roof had collapsed onto the floor.”
“This is my hometown,” he says.
“My family goes deep in Graves County, in Mayfield.
It was not easy to see the destruction of the building and the touchstones of our lives.”
But then, as he entered the skeleton of the space he once knew, something happened.
“Everything else was disheveled, but those two items were unscathed.
When I saw that, I told myself, ‘I think we will be okay.
We can make this work.’
“That is our reminder of the faith that sustains us,” he says.
Beyond the initial shock and grief, West has been focused on the long-term needs of his church family.
“For me, the challenge was responding to people who wanted guidance and direction,” he says.
“What do we do with what’s happened?
We can do this.
We’re going to thrive.
This will make us better.”
