Community of Kathleen works to get back to normal a week after a tornado

KATHLEEN, Fla. - It’s been more than a week since a tornado touched down in Kathleen, and the Polk County community has been working to get back to normal ever since.

Classes are set to resume on Monday at Kathleen Middle School, which lost part of its roof and had extensive damage from the tornado.

The church communities, in particular, are coming together to help congregations whose buildings were severely damaged in the storm. 

Bethel Baptist Church, one of the oldest in the Kathleen Community, opened their student center to the Mt. Tabor Baptist Church congregation because the damage was too great for them to safely worship at their home church. 

"I'm so proud of this church but also of this community that we serve," said Mt. Tabor Pastor Matt Gilmore. 

With so much bad news given to them just a week ago, the congregation was happy to hear updates on insurance claims and building plans from Pastor Gilmore Sunday morning. 

"All of this can be replaced," explained Pastor Gilmore ," We're going to put a new roof on it... we're going to tear that building down. It is the people...that's what matters. That's what we're hear for."