HENRYVILLE, Ind. — In the two months since tornadoes devastated parts of southern Indiana, much work has been done to clear debris, repair damaged homes and businesses and get farm operations up and running again.

The recovery process is still in its early stages and will probably last well into next year, said Steve Cain, president of Indiana Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (INVOAD). Cain first went to the area the weekend after the tornadoes hit, and returned from his most recent visit about two weeks ago.

“The biggest difference I noticed was that debris that had been piled up by the road had been hauled away,” noted Cain, also Purdue University extension disaster specialist. “We still have a long way to go, but it’s amazing how quickly things are going.

“When I first got there (in early March), I was amazed just how many miles of destruction there were. In Daisy Hill, it looks like it just wiped out a little valley of trees. There were just miles and miles of trees down all over the area.”

The March 2-3 tornado outbreak killed 40 people, mostly in Indiana and Kentucky, and caused damage expected to exceed $1.5 billion, according to the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration’s Storm Prediction Center.

There were 121 preliminary tornado reports from March 2, and 11 from March 3, the center said. An EF-4 tornado was confirmed in southern Indiana. An EF-5 is the strongest tornado rating.

A week after the storms, President Barack Obama declared six Indiana counties – Clark, Jefferson, Ripley, Scott, Warrick and Washington – federal disaster areas, making them eligible for assistance such as grants for temporary housing and home repairs and low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses.

As of May 1, about $1.5 million had been approved to fund expenses not covered by insurance or other programs, according to FEMA. More than 1,400 people had registered for individual federal assistance in the six counties. Nearly $2.2 million in low-interest disaster loans had been approved by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance had received nearly 6,000 claims from affected counties as of May 2, a spokeswoman said. Of those, 45 percent were from homeowners, 35 percent were automobile claims and one-sixth were from farmers. They had nearly 130 commercial claims. The company has closed 91 percent of all reported claims, the spokeswoman added.

Livestock loss apparently wasn’t widespread or sizable, based on what was reported to the Indiana State Board of Animal Health (BOAH), according to Denise Derrer, its public information director.

“In the short-term, we had a handful of reports of (large) animals that were killed or injured – mostly horses with lacerations,” she said. “We did not get any firm count of either. The local animal control agencies and private veterinary practitioners did a great job handling the animal issues in the days after the storm.”

The recovery period from such storms can last 18 months and includes not only the repair of infrastructure and property, but emotional healing as well, Cain explained.

“There could be emotional issues down the road,” he said. “Some people are afraid to ask for help, but they shouldn’t be. If you need help, or think you need it, you should try to get it. If you find yourself not sleeping or eating well, or if you’re more irritable or aggravated than you normally are, maybe you need to just talk to someone.”

As president of INVOAD, it is Cain’s job to help coordinate the volunteer effort.

“This was one of the best volunteer responses to a tornado ever,” he stated. “It was amazing to see. I’m just humbled by the turnout of volunteers who came and wanted to help. I was so pleased how this particular volunteer effort went.”

VOAD started nationally about 40 years ago with the goal of organizing various groups with different beliefs into a coordinated effort so they could be deployed effectively to disaster scenes, Cain said. Volunteers affiliated with INVOAD have donated about $700,000 worth of time in the last two months in southern Indiana, he stated. About the same amount has been donated by unaffiliated volunteers.

Cain figures affiliated volunteers have spent about 30,000 hours working so far. “The people of Indiana should be proud of themselves and their fellow Hoosiers,” he said. “There are many people back in their homes because of the efforts of volunteers.”

The response from volunteers was so strong that in the first few days after the tornadoes, many areas were unprepared for the number of people who showed up wanting to help, Cain explained.

“Many of the roads in those areas are small, windy and hilly, and if you get thousands of volunteers thinking they’ll just show up, it creates traffic jams,” he said. “We finally had to create a checkpoint for cars going into the area.”

People who want to help storm victims are asked to send cash donations rather than clothes or other items, Cain said. Potential volunteers are asked to register at http://march2recovery.org

The website also has information for storm victims. The information is primarily for those living in Clark, Jefferson, Ripley, Scott and Washington counties.