GoFundMe launched to help rebuild Missouri gas station leveled by tornado
When a tornado leveled an iconic gas station in Moundville, Missouri, last Wednesday, owner Craig Bott, 65, and his family were met with an outpouring of community support.
As residents from the tiny town and beyond rallied to help with the cleanup, the Botts repeatedly heard how much the two-pump, full-service station—a fixture since Craig’s father, Lyman, built it in 1969—meant to them, along with the recurring question: “Are you going to rebuild?”
A week after the tornado, Bott’s wife, Patti Bott, explained by phone that while they had insurance, it would fall short of covering their losses, leading the family to launch a GoFundMe campaign to help with rebuilding. Patti said her husband had always acknowledged the possibility of minor damage to the station, like losing the roof or windows in a storm, but they never imagined the entire building could be destroyed, especially since it was built so solidly with cinder blocks and reinforced with rebar.
Their son and daughter-in-law, Cameron Bott, 35, and his wife, Diana, 36, whose nearby home was damaged in the tornado, initiated a discussion about starting a GoFundMe to offset potential insurance shortfalls in rebuilding the gas station. Patti, 64, said the idea of fundraising was met with some hesitation by Craig, who she said is still dealing with the shock of losing the station. “We weren’t sure how he would take it,” said Patti. “He was a little surprised, but he didn’t fight it like I was afraid he would.”
Approaching retirement age, the couple is reluctant to incur tens of thousands of dollars in debt to rebuild. Patti, 64, said she now anticipates working until full retirement age at 67 as a medical laboratory scientist at Nevada Regional Medical Center. She explained that Craig, who will soon turn 66, “cannot sit still” and that the gas station is more than a job; it is his life. “I don’t think he’d be happy unless he rebuilt,” said Patti.
Salvage and cleanup work will continue this weekend as volunteers from nearby communities flood Moundville for a cleanup day to help the Botts and others impacted by the tornado.
“My daughter-in-law hasn’t allowed her children outside yet because there’s nails and glass scattered in the grass,” Patti explained. “I’m not sure how we’ll remove all the glass. We have a tool—a little magnetic roller—to pick up the nails, but I have no idea how to get rid of the glass.”
After the tornado, Craig managed to salvage his toolbox and tools and is assessing what he can repair. “He can fix anything,” Patti said. Once the debris is cleared, Craig hopes to start by fixing the damaged gas pumps, she added.
“I think I am, I’m excited for my husband, for rebuilding,” said Patti. “Because the station means so much to him,” she said. “It’s not just losing a business. It was losing his parents all over again because his parents were so involved with the station, and he grew up with it.”
For Craig, it is his family’s legacy, wiped out when the EF-1 tornado tore through Vernon County, but it is also a legacy the Bott family is determined to help him rebuild, piece by piece.