Community Helps Tornado Survivor in Wagener SC

Guest Writer: my daughter

Mr. Vibraschi Aversa was unloading groceries Friday afternoon when a tornado went ripping through the next room over. At 87-years old, the old man did what he could do; he stood there. And he survived.

Mr. Vibraschi Aversa was unloading groceries Friday afternoon when a tornado went ripping through the next room over. At 87-years old, the old man did what he could do; he stood there. And he survived.

“He was scared for his life,” Pastor Bill Bishop said speaking for Mr. Aversa. Mr. Aversa is very hard of hearing, and it became apparent all I had to do was listen. He had so much to say.

“I got home from getting groceries Friday, and I pulled my car into the garage. I always do. I went into the kitchen to start putting things away. I thought just trees were coming down, and in a second my roof was gone.”.....

The roof was blown off the house, and what didn’t get caught in the trees got sent to the neighbor’s yard across the street.

“I was at Zesto’s in Triangle City,” his son Tony says. “I called him to see if he wanted anything for lunch.”

Tony said when he arrived on the scene he didn’t notice much at first because of the garage, which was still in tact. But as he pulled closer he saw the damage and ran to the house to check on his dad.

He found Mr. Aversa in the kitchen, safe and sound. The house, however, has to be completely redone.

“Tarp what?” Tony said. “We need a parachute." The house falls apart more each day. 

"It was like a museum in here, but now all these paintings are ruined. Very expensive paintings, very nice furniture, all destroyed; unsalvageable.”

He said the only thing they can do is bulldoze the place and start from scratch. The wood is warped, the doorways are cracked, it’s as if the whole top of the house shifted a centimeter, keeping its foundation. “It’s demoralizing,” says Tony.

Mr. Aversa, however, seemed to stay in such good spirits. He was more worried about getting three, not two, pieces of salami on his sandwich. He was being very generous, offering what he could to those who came to help.

But then he found a gold cabinet knob he had made himself, “I’m not giving this away,” he told his son. Mr Aversa is full of memories and more than happy to have someone to tell them to. As he digs through his things, memories of his wife flow out of him.

He sent me home with a vintage coffee maker and a Long Island sweater, (after noticing my “I heart NY” t-shirt I had on). And he hiked up his driveway with half a bag of oranges he found in the ruin.