An illustration represents community support for Graci Boersen after a tornado destroyed the Nebraska home she shared with her mother weeks before her June wedding.
By Hola Nebraska
Graci Boersen and her mother survived in the basement while an EF3 tornado destroyed their newly built home near St. Libory, just weeks before Boersen’s June wedding.
A Nebraska bride-to-be is receiving community support after a tornado destroyed the new home where she lived with her mother, leaving the family without nearly everything inside just weeks before her wedding.
Graci Boersen, 20, and her mother, Christina Parden, took shelter in the basement of their home near St. Libory on Sunday, May 17, as an EF3 tornado tore the house from its foundation. Both women and their dogs survived, according to published reports.
The home had been newly built, and Boersen and Parden had moved in earlier in May. The storm destroyed personal belongings, furniture, clothing, keepsakes, wedding decorations and some bridal gifts that had been prepared ahead of Boersen’s June wedding.
The family had just moved into the new home
Boersen and Parden were at the home when weather conditions began to worsen that Sunday. They had recently completed one of their first grocery trips since moving in and were watching the storm as it approached.
When the funnel cloud appeared to be heading toward the house, they gathered their dogs and went into a storage room in the basement. The power went out minutes later.
The National Weather Service later documented the tornado as an EF3 with winds reaching 160 mph, according to reporting cited in the case. The tornado lasted only a few minutes, but the damage to the home was severe.
After the tornado passed, a storm chaser came to the top of the basement stairs and helped Boersen and Parden get out of the home.
Wedding plans were already underway
Before the tornado, Boersen had been finishing details for her June wedding to her fiancé, Micah Rhoades. She had worked on her bouquet, bought thank-you notes and met with her videographer during the weekend before the storm.
The tornado changed those plans within minutes. Wedding decorations, supplies and other items prepared for the celebration were lost or damaged along with much of the household.
The loss also included everyday items and personal belongings that had only recently been moved into the new home. The family lost furniture, beds, clothing and keepsakes, according to a GoFundMe description.
One major wedding item was spared. Boersen’s wedding dress was not inside the home because it had been dropped off for alterations about a week before the tornado. Her mother’s dress was later found in a cornfield and taken to be cleaned.
Relatives opened a fundraiser after the tornado
After the storm, Dream Solko, a relative of Parden, created a GoFundMe campaign to support Boersen and Parden after the loss of the house and their belongings.
In the fundraiser description quoted in published reports, Solko said the tornado changed everything for Christina and Graci, who lost their home and the items inside it. She also noted that Boersen was expected to get married only weeks after the storm.
As of Tuesday, May 26, the GoFundMe had raised nearly $10,000, according to the report.
The support extended beyond online donations. Other brides, wedding vendors and community members offered decorations, tablecloths, backdrops and help with setup and teardown for the wedding day.
A Grand Island bakery hosted a local fundraiser
Toasted by Danish Bakery in Grand Island, where Boersen works as a baker, also hosted a fundraiser to help her after the tornado.
The event raised nearly $9,000, according to information attributed to KGFW in published reporting.
The response included offers from people who had recently celebrated their own weddings and wanted Boersen to use items from their ceremonies. Vendors also offered free decor and support for the celebration.
Boersen described the community response with a simple phrase: “People have been amazing.”
Community support reshapes the wedding
Boersen’s wedding will not look exactly the way she had planned before the tornado. The destruction of the home changed the final weeks before the ceremony, but the donations and offers of help have allowed part of the celebration to be rebuilt.
For Boersen and Parden, the support has included both practical help and emotional relief: wedding materials, financial donations, vendor support and messages from people who wanted to help after seeing what the tornado destroyed.
Boersen said the experience has changed how she sees the wedding, according to the report. The ceremony is now tied not only to the couple’s original plans, but also to the people who stepped in after the storm.
The May 17 tornado destroyed the home near St. Libory. The GoFundMe campaign and the Grand Island bakery fundraiser were still part of the community response as of Tuesday, May 26.
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