Lost and Found Event for Tornado Survivors

The Putnam County Fairgrounds will host a lost and found event from Friday to Sunday for Tornado survivors.

Friday from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM at the women’s building residents can drop off items found after the tornado.

Randy Adams is Deputy Director of the Putnam County Volunteer Organization. Adams said survivors can come to claim items on Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM.

“I’ve seen people latch on to a garment of clothing that belonged to somebody who passed away in the storm and the meaning, the emphasis that, that has,” Adams said. “I’ve seen little trivial things picked up that they thought they would never see again and it just connects them back to that home and that place.”

Adams said the plan is not finalized but he believes unclaimed items will be put into county archives. After working 7,000 volunteers for 56,000 hours, collecting lost items has been a community effort.

“These are things that have been collected by our volunteers as they’ve been out cleaning and picking up,” Adams said. “We know there are other folks who have been picking up things too.”

Adams said there have been efforts to reunite people with their lost belongings in April and May. However, the pandemic hit the Putnam County Volunteer Organization’s operations.

“Because of COVID we’ve had to change the way we do things,” Adams said. “We’ve had operations shut down and we don’t have the volunteers in the field like we have.”

If residents plan on coming to claim lost items, it is important to bring an ID to prove local residence. The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office will also be bringing in items they have collected during the aftermath of the March Tornadoes.

The lost and found will run from October 9-11.