A first-hand account of recovery efforts from the April 26 tornadoes that devastated parts of the metro area. By Ben “Felix” Ungerman, Director of Field Operations for Omaha Rapid Response, former Deputy Chief of Staff for Congressman Don Bacon (currently his Senior Advisor) and retired U.S. Air Force Colonel.

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On the night of the tornado that ravaged Waterloo, Elkhorn, Bennington and Blair, I was with Congressman Bacon in the hardest hit neighborhood of Ramblewood, surveying the devastation. 

Police were already going door to door to determine if anyone needed assistance, while residents were out helping fellow neighbors get out of the rubble of what was left of their homes. We saw many still crawling out of or still going through the debris of their homes before finding shelter for the night.

The next morning, I went out to Relevant Center in Elkhorn to join the efforts of Omaha Rapid Response in whatever way I could. Little did I know, having never worked with them operationally, that Ken Gruber, the president of the organization and a close friend for many years, would ask me to take leadership of the entire operation and their disaster response efforts. 

During my time working for Congressman Bacon, running his Nebraska office and operations, I had dealt with other disasters and crises, from the floods of 2019 to COVID in 2020, and assisting with evacuations of Nebraskans from Afghanistan after the collapse of the country. 

I also had assisted with hurricane recovery operations, and in my military career, was deployed to combat environments many times, dealing with other chaotic situations. So I was fairly prepared to step in and lead. But, I didn’t really know any of the team or leaders from Omaha Rapid Response, so I had to trust instincts and recognize the abilities I saw of those who could fill the needs and then empower and resource them to do the work. 

I found out that several people who did a lot of the work to manage the information, operations, logistics and more, were people who had never helped out the organization either. 

They just used their talents wherever needed, however needed, and things just came together to get the people and equipment assigned and the work done. 

One in particular was an 18-year-old high school student, who just kept leading and managing things we gave her to do, in every task or position we put her in. I could have never imagined doing something so big or so well when I was her age. After an initial hesitation, I agreed, as there was no time to waiver while hundreds were going through the worst situation of their lives and needing immediate help. 

That day was a blur, but we were pretty sure we had processed and dispatched 4,000 or more volunteers to the many locations where the damage was the worst. The following nine days also went by very fast, and the situations and stories we encountered were almost innumerable and unbelievable. 

The first and most amazing revelation was that not one person was killed, despite the incredible damage and devastation of so many homes across such a large area. 

Stories came in over the first week about people being in the only place in their home that wasn’t damaged to the point that they would have easily been seriously injured or killed, had they not been in that exact place. 

One account was of a woman found uninjured in a small corner of the basement, while all the rest of the home was destroyed and collapsed in the rest of the basement. Another was of two people sucked out of their home with all the rest of the upper floor of the house and found some distance away only bruised. 

We heard an account of an elderly woman, who could not get to her basement due to her health limitations, but made it to the central bathroom on the main floor and was found there unharmed when nearly all of the rest of the upper floor was completely destroyed and strewn into neighboring yards. 

Another was an elderly man in one of the only remaining corners of his house unhurt. Yet another account was a man, who chose to crawl under the stairs in the basement, but the rest of the house had also collapsed into the other areas of the basement, but he was protected. 

I can only explain or account for all these stories as miracles of a divine nature, and that we truly should seek to know and honor a God who would do so much to protect so many in a situation where many should have perished.

To see more than 13,000 volunteers from all over Nebraska and states in the upper Midwest come to help in any way they could, was spectacular. Many brought chainsaws, heavy equipment, trailers to haul debris, and more that was desperately needed. 

The outpouring of support from local businesses was incredible. Countless companies came with grills, food, drinks, supplies, gloves, storage totes and much more, to support and equip the volunteers working and to offer meals and support to the victims. 

Within a little more than a week, thousands of workers cleared nearly all debris from the Ramblewood neighborhood, making it easy to access the neighborhood via vehicle or on foot for victims to go through their homes to find their possessions. 

Victims had spray painted “Thank you volunteers” or “God Bless you” on parts of the home that remained to express their gratitude for the work that had been done.

One woman told a story of her husband, a military veteran, who passed away on the exact day of the tornado one year prior, and when she was able to get back into the remains of her home, she found the flag that was presented to her at his funeral, still in a small case, upon a shelf in a room that had no roof or walls remaining. Surely the force of the winds that destroyed the home should have taken that with the many other items blown away, but something divine in nature was at play. 

All of the volunteers doing debris recovery were asked to please collect any pictures, valuables or memorabilia they found to be made available for victims who might want to find items they had lost in the church, that hosted our response operations. The volumes of pictures that were found and displayed were unbelievable. Many victims found some peace in what they saw and found in those items collected.

Throughout the recovery operations, chaplains and counselors were present to meet with victims, offer them any assistance in dealing with the tragedy, their new situation and austerity, or to process any grief or trauma they were experiencing.

Many accounts were heard of victims who were helped in tremendous ways by those there with them as they hit moments of hardship in processing what they had experienced or were feeling in seeing the damage again. 

One of our trained trauma counselors stated that the first two weeks after a severe trauma is critical to processing the trauma before it becomes more deeply engrained and causes PTSD-like issues later on. 

We were very fortunate to have so many trained people assisting the victims so quickly. One account was of a woman, who re-entered her home for the first time, and was overwhelmed by it and could only sit in the middle of a destroyed room and sob. One of our chaplains was able to be there with her and help her process it until she could cope with the situation and find the things she was hoping to get from her home.

One young couple, who were victims in Ramblewood, first came into the church where we were operating several days after the recovery operations had begun. They had a look on their faces of complete exhaustion and shock. Immediately we surrounded them with compassionate people, made them some meals to eat, and offered information and assistance to them. 

After about half an hour, they finally began to smile and laugh. They later told us that was the first moment they had felt anything good after the tornado hit their home, and they were so thankful for us being there so quickly and helping everyone so much. 

Several weeks later, the husband said that a moment of joy came for him when all the debris had been cleared around his home, and the grass in his yard was looking like it did before the tornado. It gave him hope that things would get better soon that he had not been able to see or feel prior to that.

Working in my other duties for a congressional office has shown me a side of society that was angry, divided, and discouraging. Seeing and leading the unselfish and compassionate response of our entire community and state, to help others they had never met, has shown me that there is great hope for America. 

Not one person spoke of their political views, party registration, or disagreement with anything happening in our world. They simply put all differences aside and worked together to help fellow Nebraskans and Americans. 

I know if we can use and share these stories, lessons and experiences with others, we can offer greater hope to the next generation to make things better. What I experienced was truly the fullest embodiment of “love your neighbor as yourself.”

By Carla Chance

The Daily Record

Floods, drought, tornadoes, famine, earthquakes, hurricanes, terrorism, war.

Inundated by bad news. That’s why it can be helpful to shine a light on all the good being done.

And, one has to look no further than Omaha Rapid Response, America’s Disaster Relief Teams, a grassroots, metro-area, nonprofit organization.

But their humanitarian efforts, now flanked by thousands of volunteers, have had a massive global impact, according to Ken Gruber, president and CEO.

“Rapid Response deploys to natural and man-made disasters – locally, nationally and around our world. As a faith-based organization, we provide compassionate relief and humanitarian aid in the midst of crisis and disaster,” according to their mission statement.

“Rapid Response has responded to disasters in dozens of countries and dozens of states. We muck houses, do chainsaw work, pastoral care, trauma, PTSD, medical response, demo and rebuild houses, and are flexible enough to respond wherever we are called to serve,” he said.

In fact, there is no situation volunteer teams – who pay their own way – won’t go, save the front lines of a country at war.

Yet, it all started with a single voice, out of a local concern, who recognized a greater need, and answered a collective calling.

“Rapid Response was started by members of over 50 churches in the year 2000. At that time, Pastor Ray Mayhew of Trinity Church (now Lifegate), went around the area and recruited like-minded individuals to form a region-wide, disaster-relief organization,” he said.

Coincidentally, at a time when the nation was brought to its knees.

“They trained and did their due diligence in establishing a 501(c)3 with the IRS – and their first was 9/11 in New York in 2001,” he said.

Fast forward to today and Rapid Response now encompasses hundreds of churches, 10,000 volunteers, and Lincoln, Neb., and Fort Meyers, Fla., affiliates, with dozens of other individuals and organizations supporting the nonprofit in one way or another.

Since then, disaster relief teams have rendered humanitarian aid for the Maui fire victims to the war in Ukraine, the Heartland floods, Guatemalan volcano relief, Sri Lanka tsunami, Pakistani earthquake, the peoples of Nepal, Haiti, Lebanon, the Philippines and Iraq, not to mention the most recent swath of tornadoes, that devastated parts of the metro area, he said.

Not only is the need dire, but growing, according to Gruber, who estimates Rapid Response has impacted tens of thousands of people’s lives in the past 24 years.

Why? Simply put, the more we’re connected, the more we’re aware.

“There are more disasters and greater informational gathering to know about more disaster,” he said, adding, “the need for long-term recovery for victims is greater since many people will move on from a disaster and be too busy to help.”

Thankfully, that’s where Rapid Response has become resourceful.

Funded entirely by donations from individuals, churches and non-governmental organizations, Rapid Response strives to focus on what they deem one of the most crucial elements in crisis management. Not just house-restructuring, but people-building.

“Our disaster relief organization is all about relationships,” he said. “In the midst of the heartache and pain after a disaster, Rapid Response seeks a holistic approach to our response. We build relationships and address the mental, emotional and spiritual care, as well as the physical needs,” he said.

In fact, no victim of disaster is ever charged. Hardships strike across the board.

“We respond to the needs of everyone. Where some groups don’t help renters or economically blessed individuals or families, we help anyone after a disaster, whether man-made or natural … local, national or around our world.”

As for Gruber, who has witnessed “the most horrific and gruesome things,” he, and his teams, have also been affected by the scope of these disasters.

“That is is why we push self-care and support,” he said.

A self-described construction and homebuilder, ordained chaplain, husband, father, grandfather and safety instructor/teacher, the lifelong Omaha resident has spent 25 years in public safety in varying roles – from hazmat to boat patrol.

No doubt, he was influenced by his father, Rex Gruber, 93, a Korean War veteran and Douglas County sheriff, well-regarded in the local law enforcement community, who did life-changing work for the department and is still loved, he said.

“I accompanied my father to crime scenes, spent my career in public safety, and then God said, ‘Now you are trained, come and work for Me,’” he recounted, while in a moment of prayer.

The experience has left him humbled, he said.

“I am blown away by the good support over the years,” he said, reflecting on the aftermath of the metro’s most recent tornadoes.

(See Director of Field Operations Felix Ungerman’s first-hand account of the metro area’s April 2024 tornado recovery efforts)

“We had 3,000 volunteers 14 hours afterward. Over 14,000 in the first two weeks. We can’t do it without any volunteers and donations,” he said.

And, while there’s always need, there’s always room at the table – especially for more volunteers.

“I warn people, be prepared when you join. It’s like wow, we are bringing hope. We are totally changing somebody’s life by showing support,” he said.

Because amid the destruction, therein lies the reward.

“It’s being there for people in their darkest hour,” he said.

 “Disaster can bring out the best and worst in people, but love can bring hope, and there is nothing more powerful than that in the universe,” he professed.

As far as future plans, Gruber has already set the groundwork.

Looking to acquire nearly 24 acres of land between Lincoln and Omaha, Rapid Response hopes to raise $2 million in order to expand their services, offering training for everything needed to help disaster victims – from medical to heavy equipment, operating chainsaws, as well as spiritual and emotional care.

“Omaha Rapid Response has been recruiting, training and equipping volunteers to respond to local, national and international disasters for over 20 years. The network of this volunteer force has increasingly grown as our abilities to mobilize people and equipment quickly and safely to disasters has evolved,” he said.

“A vision of this ministry is to be able to secure a property as a training facility that includes housing for volunteers, as well as a permanent base of operations and storage of equipment and supplies needed for disaster relief.”

“The March 2019 floods in Nebraska brought this need into focus. Other national disasters since then have heightened our desire to equip a greater number of volunteers,” he added.

“The April 26 tornado outbreak that devastated cities in Nebraska and Iowa made the need for a training facility crystal clear, as thousands of people in a matter of days came to help in this disaster, many now asking how to be trained to better respond. This has fueled our call to action on acquiring a training site and base of operations.”

But what helps move proverbial mountains …

“Love and caring, a presence, listening ear, empowering them to move them forward,” he simply said.

Here are some of the best ways, he suggests, the general public can help:

“If someone can join a team, volunteer. If someone cannot go, can they give. If they cannot go, and are unable to give, they can pray. There is always a need for volunteers, to give of their resources, and especially pray for us and those we come in contact with. Or, do all the above!” he added.

In today’s climate, Gruber encourages people to be aware, keep track of the weather, the news, other forms of communication and be prepared to take action.

“A tornado is not like in the movies. Even little pieces of sand can be like bullets to the body. It was a miracle no one was killed,” he said, of the onslaught of the metro’s most recent storms.

To learn more about volunteer opportunities, training or to donate, please contact Rapid Response at (402) 277-9570 or hello@rapidresponseamerica.org. In addition to monetary contributions, other forms of financial donations will be accepted.

For further information and photos of recovery efforts around the world, please visit their web site: https://rapidresponseamerica.org or https://www.facebook.com/omaharapidresponse