Two members of SheepDog IA [SDIA] Disaster Relief group were victims in the 2012 tornado that ravaged southern Kenton County in March 2012.
Dave Jardon, of Verona, and Bill Schneider, of Fiskburgh, have both been victimized by Mother Nature.
But, both have travel hundreds of miles, as Sheep Dogs, to assist victims in North Carolina, Texas, and Louisiana who have witnessed the fury of floods, furricanes, and tornadoes.
They are eager to help neighbors in “our own back yards”, as their local SDIA chapter serves communities throughout Greater Cincinnati.
National Sheep Dog teams are also deployed to wide-spread disaster areas in Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, and other locations.
This two-man team visited areas near Dayton, Ohio in recent weeks to assess where best to deploy their local resources. That region was pummeled by a series of violent tornadoes.
Most of the communities have meet initial relief needs, but as both men realize, the recovery is long from being finished and some communities are still reeling.
“The Ohio storms hit residential areas and have resulted in much more damage than here in 2012,” said Schneider
Sheep Dog chapter Commander Dave Jardon indicated that “we have spent 3 years building a disaster response capability, now we can put it into place.”
Their Sheep Dog truck was parked near Kroger in Independence with a goal of filling the bed with donations for Dayton.
-Staff report