VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) – It’s been 24 days since an EF-3 tornado tore apart a Virginia Beach neighborhood.
People in the Broad Bay Point Greens are still cleaning up. Now, a local organization is connecting people with resources to rebuild.
Catholic Charities hosted an informational session at Spring Branch Community Church Wednesday. Eight families impacted by the tornado attended the meeting.
“Tornado recovery is a long-term process,” said Pastor Garrett Bugg of Wycliffe Presbyterian Church.
Bugg tells us he has 10 families in his congregation who were affected by the EF-3 tornado. What he’s hearing the most? How to help children now fearful of the disaster and it happening again.
“Children experience disaster and trauma differently than adults, and so we want to make sure that the children are getting the resources and support that they need,” Bugg said.
That’s why Tracy Fick, CEO of Catholic Charities, invited Dr. Katlin Knodel, a clinical psychologist at CHKD, to talk to impacted families about trauma and how to help their children through the process.
“We’re just really here to be an advocate and just walk families through any of the circumstances that come their way,” Fick said.
Catholic Charities is also providing financial assistance and stable housing for those who need it.
Knodel tells us keeping a sense of normalcy and routine will help children cope.
“Just having open, honest conversations at your child’s developmental level so being willing to acknowledge that this really scary thing happened,” Knodel said, “we were all in it together and reinforcing that sense of safety.”
