A few weeks ago we were the ones with the tornado warnings...last night, it was our hometown and many areas surrounding it. Parkersburg, a town about 15 minutes north of our hometown, was hit hard by a large tornado; they are estimating that 1/3 of the town is destroyed. And the town only has 2000 people to start with. There are 4 people dead (they originally thought 5) and 2 dead in a town over, New Hartford. It's amazing how bad the storms are this year and how all over the country they have hit. Mom and Dad headed over, as they are both EMTs and my dad is a deputy in Grundy County. They were going house to house looking for people. Mom said that the basements didn't even matter in a couple of houses because the houses fell in on people. It sounds like they are gauging it at an F4 or F5 and one fireman said it was a 1/2 mile wide. One of the videos below says that at least 100 homes are destroyed in Parkersburg. We anxiously wait to hear who was killed, as we know friends or friends who have family in both towns. There was very extensive damage in Dunkerton, near Waterloo, where some friends and some of my former co-workers and their families live.
Dad said the destruction in Parkersburg is so bad that they couldn't even pick out some of the places he knew well. They evacuated the entire town last night and searched for people again. Grandpa and Grandma are in the hospital in Waterloo apparently spent part of the night in the hallway at the hospital because of all of the tornado warnings.
It's so scary to think how close we were to being hit here and now how close Mom and Dad were. Looks like we are in for a long summer. At this rate, I really hope the hurricanes stay away this year. Not the kind of Memorial Day we were looking for. It makes me heart sick to think of the tragedy and how close to home it is.
Below is Dad's blog & a few news links. The WHO TV link has good video footage and a lot of pictures. One is of the high school where I played basketball and volleyball while in HS that is almost all destroyed. The map shows our hometown, Grundy Center south of Parkersburg and Waterloo/Cedar Falls off to the east.
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http://theiowans.blogspot.com/
http://www.whotv.com/global/story.asp?s=8378124
http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-26587
http://www.kwwl.com/global/Category.asp?c=128862
http://www.wcfcourier.com/
First we must pray. And then we must act.
ReplyDeleteHey girl, my hometown was one of the ones hit (New Hartford). My mom's house didn't get hit, but she has a lot of debris in her yard and missing a few limbs from her tree. She was lucky. The cemetery though, I guess was leveled. I don't know if my dad's headstone was damaged, but I know it's not standing any more. It's devastating to hear how bad P'burg was hit. You know, New Hartford has never been hit (actually in town) by a tornado in the 150some years it's been around. Unbelievable. I have some friends who were injured in NH, but haven't heard about anyone I know yet from P'burg. Very sad.
ReplyDeleteColorado has even has some pretty bad ones up north- about 30 minutes or so from Denver. Maybe we will all have to move to Utah- I don't think they have had much severe weather and I am sure Todd would love the company :o)
ReplyDeleteOne more comment from me... Saturday I leave as a part of a Katrina Relief group, bound for Mississippi. Perhaps next year we'll be working in Parkersburg! Are you hearing from friends and family? Are they okay, Andi?
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