Cox Family Survived Tornado! Help us Rebuild!

Friends, you may know me, but I'm Ginny Cowell and this plea for help is for my best friends who survived a EF-2 tornado while I slept through it just a mile away. On Friday, 12/10/21, I awoke from a sound sleep at 11:02 p.m. to a text message from Wendy Cox,

“We got hit by the tornado. We’re Ok. The Kids Ok. God’s Divine Protection!

Please let Pastor Joe and Julie know” After passing along this information I drifted back to sleep, never dreaming of the nightmare my “other” family, had just survived, until I saw the news coverage and read the paper. Ironically, earlier in the day there was a discussion with friends regarding the TC-JG article in the section called “this day in history” that referenced a tornado 50 years ago that had touched down near Charleston and 24 people were injured. As I drove to their house, the tears would not stop and the emotions just overwhelmed me as I saw the pieces of their “life” scattered for miles around.

On 12/11/21, Saturday afternoon, two dozen family friends filled the roofless home to pack up furniture. Many were volunteer firefighters who work with Wendy and her husband and sons. Many were parents of riding students, co-workers & local church members. Food & bottled water was brought out by people they didn’t even know! Wonderful cookies from Amish ladies appeared! What an amazing show of support from all over the county! The family was beyond grateful for the help & very overwhelmed by everything as you can imagine! Both houses were packed in to 2 semi-trailers within 8 hours! What an incredible accomplishment, the gratitude can never be expressed enough!!

 

After Wendy alerted her kids in the mobile home next door, Corine herded her husband and two young children into the main farmhouse just minutes before the tornado touched down.

The family hunkered down, where, as I like to say, the old meets the new, on the concrete step, just outside the kitchen, leading down to the added on laundry room & garage. Gene wrapped his 6’7 lanky frame around his wife Wendy on one side, grandkids wrapped in her arms while Jesse, 6’8 did the same with his wife Corine sitting beside his mom. All the while, Jesse battled to keep the door closed, holding on for dear life, fighting against the suction of the tornado, as the storm tried to rip the door off its hinges. Little Joe, the farm dog was offering comfort and licking the faces of the crying children while Wendy recited, over & over Psalms 91 asking for Gods divine protection. And then, just as suddenly, it was over & eerily quiet.

The chaos was plain to see when they exited the house, with pieces of their lives strewn all across the property into the fields beyond. The tornado had ripped the roof off & the family watched while everything that was in the attic was sucked up and just gone. According to Wendy, she wanted to clean it out, just not like that! Being able to maintain a bit of humor in such a grim situation is what makes them even more special! “It doesn’t sound like a train, it sounds like a dinosaur who’s really mad,” says Corine Cox while Wendy Cox says “It sounded like the biggest bulldozer you can image.” The barn had completely collapsed except the center section which was oddly peaked. Resting on the round bale feeder, gathered around were the families cows, goats & chickens - all, safe, secure and amazingly alive!

The entire Cox family are some of the most altruistic people I am blessed to have in my life & they are always putting others first. My friend Wendy was a 4-H leader for over 20 years, an CMA at SBLH, & an EMS first responder along with her husband Gene & both sons Dalton & Jesse who are volunteer firefighters.

This family is always on the other side of the emergency/crisis. They’re always the ones helping everybody else. Getting called in the middle of the night and rushing to help others, so this feels really weird to them to be on the receiving end. Wendy says, “It’s a huge blessing to know that we have this kind of support from the community” When asked how this would affect their Christmas, her reply “It’s still Jesus’ birthday and we are truly thankful for the lives of my family and all of our livestock.”

As the family begins the task of cleanup and rebuilding, the expenses will still be mounting, so I am asking for your help. What makes this even more tragic, is that we have 2 family homes, their vehicles, fences & outbuildings and a business that the tornado damaged or destroyed. Gene & Wendy lived in the main house – Their son, daughter-in law- and grandchildren lived in the adjacent mobile home. The family business, Green Gate Ranch, where Wendy & daughter Cassie, held riding lessons in the barn & the riding arena. They have wonderful friends & family that have opened up their barns & pastures to house the cows & goats, stables for the horses and some have offered living quarters for the Cox family.

 

Hard truth, speaking realistically, nothing in this world is free. So, I’m asking FOR YOUR HELP … I cannot begin to put a price on the expenses these 2 families are going to have from feeding themselves, livestock, monthly bills or the cost of rebuilding after this force of nature, but I do know, that with your help anything is possible! Whether you can help financially or donate time or supplies, it will be greatly appreciated by the entire family!

 

Please Know: All money raised will be used for this family - for their immediate needs and future needs.

The Gene Cox family, the Jesse Cox Family & Green Gate Ranch all have pay pal accounts so if you’d like to contribute thru that avenue & we will try tp add the links or you can message them for the info.

Thank You so much – May God bless and keep you always,

The Cox Family

 

{Excerpt} – On Saturday, meteorologists at the National Weather Service in Central Illinois said an EF-2 tornado caused destruction in Shelby, Moultrie and Coles counties. According to the NWS, EF-2 tornadoes have winds of 111 to 135 miles per hour. They cause “considerable damage” and are capable of ripping entire roofs off of homes.

 

Gene & wife Wendy Cox; son Jesse & wife Corine Cox and their 2 young children, ages 2 & 6 survived the twister that tore the roof off the main house, the mobile home, destroyed vehicles, and outbuildings on their small family farm.