It’s hard to believe that just a few short years ago St. John the Baptist Parish residents were faced with the devastation of Hurricane Isaac that left nearly 7,000 under water and many residents without a home.

Several weeks ago a majority of the same areas hit by Isaac was devastated with the tornados that passed through St. John, making contact with over 600 structures.

It has become nothing short of a miracle that in the process of these devastating events, not one single life was lost.

It was encouraging in the immediate hours following the tornados to see so many residents on the ground clearing debris from roadways, tarping the roofs of surrounding neighbors or cooking meals to distribute to victims and first responders.

The people of St. John have proved over and over again to be resilient and strong.

The people of St. John have made it clear that no matter what Mother Nature plagues them with, we will come back stronger.

Parish officials have been working diligently around the clock.

The parish also re-activated the St. John the Baptist Parish Long Term Recovery Group, which assisted more than 1,000 homeowners in the aftermath of Hurricane Isaac.

The group includes faith-based leaders, Parish officials, volunteer agencies and non-profit organizations whose mission is to further assist the needs of elderly, disabled, uninsured and underinsured residents.

Monetary donations can be made to: St. John United Way (SJUW Tornado) stjohnunitedway.org, P.O. Box 2019, Reserve, LA 70084.

All donations will be allocated to volunteer and nonprofit organizations in the Long Term Recovery Group.

The Long-Term Recovery Group will also be relaunching the Recovery website, stjohnrecovery.com, devoted to recovery efforts in St. John.

Our Communications department has done an excellent job putting together all of this information. Please visit sjbparish.com to get more in depth recovery information.

Michael P. Wright is St. John the Baptist Parish Council District 5 representative. Contact him at District5@sjbparish.com.