Friends, neighbors and strangers help Andover tornado victims pick through the rubble

Carol Barker and her husband emerged from their Andover basement Friday night to find a tornado had ripped apart their home, taking years of sentimental items.

The debris at the top of the stairs forced them into the master bedroom where they hopped out where the back wall once stood and onto a pile of personal items, lumber and insulation. A little light was shining in the field behind the house at the end of a cul-de-sac. It was one of the plastic roses that her husband gets her every Valentine’s Day.

She collected them.

Somehow, the tornado turned the light on. Her husband went out to get it.

“That was kind of charming. He came and gave it to me, in the midst of all this,” she said as she started to cry. “They’re just a cheap rose, but it means something.”

As family, friends and strangers helped sift through the wreckage Saturday morning in the Prairie Creek housing development, they found other items: a cross that says strength, given to her by her daughter, and a handmade card from one of her grandchildren.

They also found the gifts, still wrapped, she had for her grandchildrens’ joint birthday party that was supposed to be Saturday. It was postponed.

The Barkers moved to the home on Aster Street a few years ago from Newton, to be closer to their daughter and grandchildren. The homes on both sides of the Barkers had significant damage. The homes next to those had at least roofing damage.

Cleanup was underway Saturday.

Residents of the Prairie Creek development sifted through the debris, looking for sentimental items and clothing to wear in the coming days.

Andover fire chief Chad Russell said Saturday morning that it was a miracle no one was seriously injured. Officials were still mapping the damage, but more than 1,000 buildings were in the path of the storm.

The Andover YMCA has severe damage. Multiple vehicles were tossed into the fitness center. Nearby Prairie Creek Elementary School was also damaged and so were homes in the housing development in that area.

The Barkers live in a housing development a few miles to the north, where Russell said the tornado was even stronger.

Chris Batcheller lives at the end of the cul-de-sac on the street just south of the Barkers, Velvet Leaf Court. Batcheller and his neighbors on both side of him had their homes leveled.

Batcheller, his children and their friends were at the movies when the tornado hit.

Veera Girireddygari, who works with Batcheller at Textron Aviation and lives a few doors down, texted him a photo of his home. Batcheller replied “where’s that?” and Girireddygari said “Your house.”

“Of course, the house is just leveled,” he said. “It’s just a little bit of a shock. I’m just so thankful that everybody was safe on the block and nobody was hurt. We can replace a house, we can replace our belongings, it’s the people that matter.”

Batcheller said when he got home the area smelled like gas from the snapped lines and water was flooding the area. Both gas and water lines were eventually shut off.

As the sun rose, he could see the extent of the damage and power of the wind. Several hundred yards away in the field behind his home was a set of wheels. It was all that was left of a 14-foot RV camping trailer that was in the garage.

“There’s nothing left but the axle,” he said. “That’s the only part that is left of that whole thing.”

His block was worse off than the one to the north. Seven homes on his block appeared to be completely destroyed.

Others, like Girireddygari, had the windows blown out. Girireddygari and his wife, Claire, had glass strewn all over their floor. Scrap metal he thinks came from a neighbor’s garage also punctured his roof and caused a sag in the ceiling of the dining room.

Girireddygari was putting on gloves and going to help Batcheller clean up.

Batcheller’s neighbors, Aldo and Flor Delgado, also had their home leveled. They were trapped inside from the damage. A stranger heard them yelling and helped pull them out of the window well in the basement.

Flor said it was their dream home. The couple, who are in their 20s, sifted through the debris on Saturday, looking for sentimental items.

Her mother-in-law found her stethoscope that she uses as a nurse.

“That’s $200 right there,” she said joyfully.

Other items went into a pile of items she wanted to save: clothes, her wedding dress, hat from a trip to Washington, D.C. and photos taken in a photo booth from when they first started dating.

Strangers who happened to be from the same city her family is from in Mexico came to help. Neighbors were also helping the young couple clean up.

“It doesn’t feel real,” she said, looking out at the damage. “It hurts. We all built, everyone on our street … My husband made the comment yesterday about how things like this sometimes bring out the best in people.”

This story was originally published April 30, 2022 at 2:29 PM with the headline "Friends, neighbors and strangers help Andover tornado victims pick through the rubble."