GEORGETOWN, Ky. (LEX 18) — We've heard so many stories about people recovering from the tornadoes in Mayfield.
Georgetown police officers heard them too earlier this week when they were helping with the clean-up.
Sergeant Lewis Crump's job is to protect and serve. Earlier this week, he took that duty beyond his post in Georgetown.
"Our primary job down there was removing debris, so we would go to people's homes and if they needed like tree limbs, household items, building materials, things like that removed from the yard, we would remove it, we'd put it near the road so construction, heavy equipment could come to pick it up," Crump said.
Crump went to Mayfield on Sunday and came back Tuesday. Fellow Georgetown officers, members of the Berea Police Department, Nicholasville Police Department, and Scott County Sheriff's Department all worked to remove as much debris as possible.
"There was a lot of chaos going on, chaos as in there was a lot of hurry up and wait, they were trying to find people that had the properties so we could remove the stuff," he said.
While they were there, they listened to people, showed compassion, and offered more than just a physical hand.
"They were just, they were broken in a sense of, they had lost everything when that storm came through," Crump said. "They said the tornado itself was just a black wall. They didn't describe a funnel; they just described a black wall that was coming towards them."
Lexington firefighters also said the experience was rewarding. It shows communities coming together. Crump says giving back this way makes Kentucky unique and special.
"It's rewarding, I've lived other places in the country, and that's that hospitality that you get when you live here, and you work here in Kentucky as everyone takes care of themselves, and it's very rewarding," Crump said.
He says people need more heavy equipment to remove a lot of the remaining debris.
