Salvation Army in Branson needs help after tornado

The Leap Year Day tornado that hit Branson did more than put the Salvation Army to work helping storm victims, Maj. Robert Meyer said. The storm also left the Branson Corps building in shambles, destroyed emergency supplies and trashed a much-used van, corps commander Meyer said Thursday. “Sometimes, the helpers need a little help,” Meyer said of the organization needing assistance to get back to something approaching normal operations. That is critical because the Branson Corps will start registering kids for summer camp soon, he said. “We would like to be fully functional by then,” Meyer said. “In April and May we start to field the applications for summer camp for children. We would like not to have any concern about our building and facility here.” The Salvation Army building on Stanley Street just off of Mo. 76 sustained heavy damage in the Feb. 29 tornado and follow-up rain, Meyer said. “That was a strange thing, to see your roof in neighbors’ trees,” Meyer said. In the storm’s aftermath, the Salvation Army was among agencies working from an emergency response center at the Factory Merchants Mall. The Salvation Army provided more than $16,000 in assistance to 184 households, and operated several mobile canteens, Meyer said. Now, there’s time to assess what the Branson Corps needs. The current estimate is that restoration work at Stanley Street will cost $70,000, but he anticipates that estimate will rise, Meyer said. The storm also blew out the windows of the center’s van. The 12-passenger van was high-mileage and the insurance company totaled it, Meyer said. The insurance covered part of the cost for a new van, Meyer said. In addition, the center was out of electricity for several days and lost its perishable food, he said. Another complication is that the Branson Corps didn’t meet its fund raising goal, and had its budget reduced in early February. Many people associate Salvation Army fund-raising efforts with the Christmas holiday, but events such as the tornado create immediate needs, Meyer said. People who have donated to the Branson Corps will be asked to help when regular fund raising appeals are sent out, Meyer said. “It will be incorporated into our regular mail appeals that go out,” he said.