Tornadoes

Yesterday storms hit the mid-section of the state with tornadoes cutting a path through Carroll, Howard, Cass, and Miami counties.

Fortunately everyone is our family was safe.  We discovered that we lost power for a while and clocks had to be re-set.  That is all.

Megan and Matt's house was fine. We were there, making and canning salsa as the news reports came in.

Hilary and Blaine and the kids took shelter in Lortons' basement as the clouds whirled overhead, but no damage occurred there.

However in Kokomo, which had been hit with intense storms in 2013, the tornadoes hit the ground and ripped apart the Starbucks by the Markland Mall, skipped through the subdivision just east of 931, and hit other places in the town as well.  The roof at the building which holds most of Ivy Tech's nursing classes was ripped off.

Classes were cancelled last night as well as for today.  The Event Center was opened and staffed by the Red Cross to offer refuge to those who had lost their homes, who needed help, or were traveling through and had become displaced in some way.

Tornadoes terrify me.  Since I lived in Monticello when it was hit in 1974, I have been petrified.  I have never made any kind of peace in my mind with hearing a Tornado Watch or a Tornado Warning issued, with listening to the wind, or with watching the sky for funnels.  When the girls were small, I imagined a tornado whipping through our farm and ripping one of them out of my arms and carrying her to Pulaski before dropping her to the ground.  Unfortunately some of that fear has passed over to them, and I regret that, but I will never regret the need to keep my girls safe from the harm of the storm.

Fortunately no fatalities occurred as a result of the storms in Kokomo and that area yesterday.  However the effects of the damage will take days, weeks, and maybe months to repair.  I pray that those who lost their homes and other possessions find peace of mind and the comfort and help that they need.

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