Close friends with serious problems

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Okay, my best friend is amazing. I love him, and my life would be far more of a mess without him. My mother thinks of him as a member of the family.

His dad is nuts, and emotionally abusing his mother (arguing with her, stalking her, not letting her leave the house, accusing her of having affairs). This has now hit a sort of crisis point, and she is trying to divorce him. Both my best friend and his mother just came round my house, to talk and to calm down. His mother was very upset; crying and saying she didn't care if she died right now. My mum was very helpful to them, and said they could always come here if they needed to get out of their house. She said this without asking my dad. My dad may not be too happy about this, but really, you can't not offer this to someone in that kind of situation!
They have both left now, and gone back home.

My mum is I think now quite upset from having to try and help with this, and so am I. My mum is now cooking dinner with a panicked sense of urgency. I have tried to helped, felt panicked and asked to go upstairs. My mum has reluctantly agreed.

I just feel like I must stop myself from panicking here. Cooking dinner is not urgent. They do not need my help that badly. If I panic it will only make things worse and make me less able to do anything helpful.
Am I right? Am I being unreasonable?

I'm guessing you're in the UK from your terms, but do you have any Women and Children's shelters there? This would be a good place for them to get in touch with, they're prepared to deal with these kinds of problems.
I'm not saying don't help them, just that there are more qualified people out there offering their services.
At least in the US, not sure about other countries.

See if you have any of these. Churches are usually aware of them, might be a place to start.
They're kind of hidden for the safety of their occupants, usually not in the phone book.