.... No, it's my Dad's house.
Who knew Heaven and Hell could be so close?
Hunter and I traveled to Iowa to help clean up some of the tornado damage that was close (too close!) to my Dad's place.
The kids and I traveled to Iowa late Thursday night, driving through the hardest & longest rain I have EVER witnessed! In fact, the weather dude interrupted the radio program to give an alert. Donna & Jen both called me to tell me there was a Tornado warning along I35 between mile marker 127 and 150. As luck had it, I was at 127 so I got to travel right along with the storm. Not the most fun I have ever had. Gretchen texted me and asked what I was going to do if the sirens went off. My reply: cross my fingers!
We safely arrived at Dad's place about 11:45pm Thursday night and were so grateful to be safe and sound!
Friday late morning I took the kids to Donna's house while I went and enjoyed lunch with my old Affina peeps. It was so nice to see them! While I LOVE my current co-workers, I miss my old ones, too.
Dayne stayed with Donna for the weekend (actually staying for two weeks) and Hunter and I headed back to my Dad's Friday afternoon. We just relaxed the rest of Friday afternoon and prepared ourselves for tornado clean up all day Saturday.
We got started with the clean up around 10am on Saturday and were in awe of the damage. Gretchen also came out to help with the clean up - what a big, helpful heart she has! Our first stop was at a stretch of homes that belonged to an extended family. The grandpa, mom and daughter/granddaughter all lived in a row. Sadly, all three homes were lost. When we first arrived, Hunter, Gretchen and I all just stood and stared. At first I felt useless, telling myself, "Stop gawking and get to work." But then I realized I needed to just stare and take it all in before I could move on and be productive. Slowly, we started cleaning ... overwhelmed mostly and not really knowing what to do or where to start. Words literally cannot describe how horrible it was.
Let me take you back about a week ...
Sunday night we were on the deck at Graden's aunt's lake house on Grand Lake in Grove, OK. Phones don't work real well there, so neither of us had paid much attention to our phones. We both saw we had missed calls, but didn't think much of it Finally, about 9:10pm Graden talked to Chris (his BFF who is dating/living with my BFF, Jen - sweet, eh!?) and Chris told him that Parkersburg (the small town next to Dad's) had been wiped out by a tornado. Knowing that my dad is very close in proximity to Parkersburg, I grabbed my phone to call my dad. Then I noticed all my missed calls - Donna & Jen (whose family lives in Parkersburg).
Even though it was past Dad's bed time, I needed to call ... needed to hear him tell me they were okay. I tried calling his landline phone and it just rang and rang. I started to visualize just the concrete foundation of his house. Then I called Susan's cell phone and felt a huge relief when I heard my daddy say, "Hello." What a wonderful sound that was! Those few minutes that passed between finding out about the tornado and hearing his voice were very long, panic stricken ones.
Dad explained what had taken place that night. They had been working on the deck that day and were in the middle of grilling dinner. Susan thought to turn on the TV, and just in time to see there were warnings in the area and that a tornado had touched down in Parkersburg (about 5 miles from New Hartford). Just a few minutes later, Dad said, "I think I hear it" as he heard what he could only desribe as the typical freight train. They beat peterfeet to the basement! Being curious as to what was happening, Dad ran back upstairs (despite the train sound getting louder?) and could see the tornado over the workshop (not directly over it, but in the near background).
They headed back in the house and waited for the storm to pass, then ventured out on their four track. Their intent was just to see what kind of "wind damage" had been done, but they were not at all prepared for what they saw. As they drove down the road, a man came running at them telling them someone was hurt and the roads were blocked, so they couldn't get a vehicle through there and wanted to use the four track. Dad agreed, and suggested they take Susan (a RN) with them. Susan encountered a critically injured woman, and unfortunatly .... a fatality. The article from the Waterloo Courier shares more details:
The Des Moines Register also contacted Susan for information on the aforementioned injured woman:
Fast forward to Thursday. Dad called me at work and wanted to know if I would be able to come to Iowa. I talked to him on Wednesday night and told him I had been thinking of coming, but wasn't 100% sure. Well, he really wanted me to ... and I really wanted to. Something psychologically in me NEEDED to see my Daddy. I knew he was okay, but I needed to see him with my own eyes. : )
This is my dad's tool shed. He didn't notice until Sunday afternoon the whole thing had been shifted about 3 inches. The wood posts used to be centered on the cement blocks.
Hunter, Jen and Gretchen assessing the damage at one of the homes we helped clean up.
Fast forward to Saturday afternoon ... Jen came up from Cedar Rapids to help clean up (and spend time with her BFF - me!). After we helped at the houses mentioned above, we headed into Parkersburg to help her dad clean up his place. Sadly, he had lost his entire house. We spent a few hours there, toured the town and then headed back to Dad's house for dinner.
This is what the entire south side of Parkersburg looks like. It was almost impossible to determine what street we were on so they had plywood signs with the street names.
Sunday afternoon Donna, Gretchen & all the kids came out for luhcn and for Dayne to see me one more time since she was staying for a couple weeks. Sunday was a relaxing afternoon ... which I felt horrible about as I left town and went by several damaged/destroyed homes and realized they will not be able to relax for a loooong time.
Ariel view of Parkersburg tornado damage
Sunday Hunter helped Dad around the acreage and mowed a bit. It is so funny to think of him operating the riding mower. I remember when they got the mower & Hunter sat on it playing. Now, he can operate it! Side note: Hunter is taller than me. He is 5' 11.5" (he likes to make sure the half is specified). I was standing next to him the other day and then realized that I was looking UP to him. How did that happen!?!?! Anyway ... cute pictures of my adorable son & my daddy:
All in all, it was a very tiring weekened - physically and emotionally. It was all just such a surreal experience. I am glad Hunter was there to see it and experience it; he was such a helpful trooper through it all. When we took too long of drink breaks, he was the one telling us we needed to get back to work! I told him this was an opportunity to give back in life. One of my co-workers has shared an quote that made perfect sense after this weekend: You have not truly lived until you have done something for someone for which you will never be repaid.
Later that night the boys played a little basketball while Oz rolled around in the yard. Dayne and I watched for a while then we all went to Dairy Queen for a treat!
Wednesday 5/21
Hunter trying to stay warm!
Hunter: 8th grade
Dayne: 3rd grade