Tornado - Part Two

The tornado came through on a Thursday night. We stayed up until 2:30 just walking around our neighborhood and talking with people. Nobody seemed to want to go to bed. Leah kept us updated with weather reports, since we had lost all power and didn’t really know if any more bad storms were forecast. We finally made our way back to our house and decided to go to bed. Neither one of us slept very well because of all the sirens, the truck back-up beeps and flashing lights.

Friday - the next morning we decided to try and get to my work. We drove east of town and found several roads already blocked. We finally made our way up one road (County Road 9) and were awe struck with what we saw. All along a one mile stretch of road were homes covered in debris and tree limbs. It looked like a war zone. We could see beyond the houses, on this road, to a housing development behind. So many of those homes were in shambles; roofs torn off, huge gaping holes in the sides of homes, some in total ruin. We drove in silence; words just didn’t seem to come.

We finally made our way to my work and found out that we were open. The electricity and phone lines had already been connected to this part of town. I wasn’t prepared to stay since Gail and I basically jumped in the car that morning and took off. I told my boss that I would be back as soon as possible.

We tried to get to get to our house via the roads I normally drive on. We couldn’t. They had already closed those roads due to downed power lines. We had to snake around to fine a way to get to our house. In doing that, we found the area south of Nappanee that had also been hit by the tornado. This area is mainly an Amish community. Again we saw houses with roofs torn off, windows broken out, and in several cases, totally leveled. There was one place that we passed that was owned by an Amish family. They lost both their house and barn – both were totally leveled. It was about 9:00 a.m. and there were already numerous Amish present with their equipment. We saw horses and buggies coming from all directions pulling wagons with more equipment and supplies. There were two women working by the house going through the rubble. Gail noticed the children playing all over the yard. He thought that was a healthy thing, to see the children still able to play in the midst of such destruction.

After we passed this place, we went around the corner and found several more homes that had sustain severe damage. We saw a semi on its side, a car upside down thrown into a tree. Again, we were awe struck at nature’s fury. To see these things tossed around like tinker toys was very overwhelming.

By now we were getting a bit frustrated because it seemed that each road we tried to turn on was already barricaded. We finally found roads that were passable – about 4 miles south of Nappanee and made our way home. We hurried and got dressed for work. By then, the Mayor had issued a State of Emergency for Nappanee. They were asking people to stay home and stay off the roads. I felt like I needed to go to work, as did Gail, so we did. Gail didn’t stay long at his job. He was able to borrow a generator from work and came home early to get that all set up. We were very grateful for that since it would be 3 days before we had power again. 3 days doesn’t seem like a long time until you don’t have any power or water. We learned how to be very frugal with water and the electricity the generator provided.

Gail walked up town to see the places in Nappanee that had been hit. He had to climb over downed trees, on one street, to get to the part of Nappanee that had been hit the hardest. Again, he saw numerous homes that had been destroyed. Friday afternoon, when I got home, we walked up State Road 19 to see the homes that had been hit there. These homes are the closest to us. They are about ¼ mile from our home. Some of these people we know and since we know them, seeing these homes was a very emotional one for us - the tears flowed easily. State Road 19 was closed because of debris on the road, but also because of downed power lines. These electric poles are huge – at their base they are 24” across. These poles were just twisted and snapped off, right at the base. Amazing. We walked by a school that the roof was picked up and laid back down, but at a 45 degree angle from before. The back end of the school was plastered with mud. There was a church next door to the school that was leveled. The only thing standing were a few classrooms. I was amazed at how much of the soybean straw was just plastered in the remaining windows and sidewalls. It was like someone took a spoon and smashed the soybean straw into the window casings and just jammed it in. We saw straw stuck in the telephone poles. We saw a 2x2 stuck in the bottom of a telephone pole, like someone used a hammer to pound it in. We walked through the field, behind our development, and there was so much debris that you had to closely watch where you were walking. There were lots of 2x4’s all over the place with nails sticking up. There was someone’s roof in the middle of State Road 19. They don’t know where it came from exactly.

Saturday – they opened up US 6 for a little while and Gail and I drove by the business areas that were hit hardest. I am still amazed at that destruction. If this tornado had hit during work hours, I believe we would have had number casualties. Some of the buildings there were completely leveled and gone. On this day we saw the Equestrian Police. There were about 8 police men and women on horses just patrolling the whole down town area. They were not friendly – I’m sure they were extremely tired of all the sight seers they were dealing with. There were sharp shooters placed around the business areas because of looting. That seemed really eerie for a little town like Nappanee. But they were here, none-the-less.

One thing that I am still amazed by – Leah and Ben came home the weekend after the tornado because Ben was preaching at our church. I took Leah around to see some of the devastation south of Nappanee. I told her about the Amish house and barn and wanted to show her that house. When we got there I was totally amazed. They had already cleaned up the destroyed house and had completed all the framing of the new house, plus the had already put the first floor plywood over the framing. I could not believe in just 30 hours, they had cleaned up the old house, and had gotten that far in building the new house. I am still amazed by that. I don’t agree with a lot of what they Amish do around here, but that is one thing I think they do right!!

Sunday - on Sunday, Nappanee had declared a work day for the community. We had over 6,000 people show up to do work detail. They only dispatched 3,000 because there were not enough safe zones for that many people to work. They actually turned people away. The community was in awe of how many people came to help. I’m sure some came out of curiosity, but most came out of a genuine desire to do something useful. When something like this happens, you feel so helpless. Working to clean up helped you feel useful. Gail went to one of neighbor’s houses to help. He had not met them before, now he has. They were amazed at how many people came to their house and didn’t know them. They just showed up and started working.

All of this happened over 3 weeks ago. People are starting to rebuild. There are areas, however, that are not being rebuilt yet. These places either did not have insurance or are rental houses and the renters have moved on and owners are waiting for insurance settlements. Of the 7 houses on 19 that were damaged, 5 were razed and they will have to build again. We noticed that two homes are starting with basements – they didn’t have them before. Good choice, I think.

We continue to be amazed that no one was killed or seriously injured. One man I work with had severe damage to his house. He lives across the road from his son who now owns the family farm. They lost their house, their barn, several out buildings and a small cabin. His son milks a herd of cows and none of them were injured. The barn was completely destroyed and all the cows spared. Amazing.

We still here amazing stories of survival. When you look at these homes, you are amazed that no one was hurt. I have never seen such destruction. I’ve seen other communities that were affected by a tornado, but seeing these things in person made a huge impact on me.

Believe it or not, I tried to be more succinct, but failed. I also seem to like the word "amazed" :) I hope this gives you a little window into that weekend for us. I hope we never experience another one.

Love to all!