Parkersburg Tornados Pt. 2

PARKERSBURG TORNADOS PT. 2

Ken, his sisters Kathy and Maria, and I went to Parkersburg on Monday (Memorial Day) to see the devastation of the town and her house firsthand. When we learned there wasn't much we could save from her house (she did have a few boxes of items in the garage, but nothing too major), we moved on to the home of a soldier in Ken's unit. His home was pretty much destroyed as well, though we were able to help them save a lot of their furnature, clothes and dishes.


This is the home of the soldier we helped. He lived here with his wife and two young children. They survived the storm by getting to their basement. When we arrived on the scene, the two adults were trying to get out as much of their stuff as possible from the house. They shared with us that their families couldn't help because two sets of them (wife's parents and her brother's family) had also lost their house in the tornado as well and were busy cleaning theselves out -- doing the same thing. What you see here is the back of their house. The rubble in front where the car is sitting was where their garage stood. You can see the roof of the garage to the right.

This is the side view of the soldier's home. This RV trailer was originally located at a lot across the highway at least a mile, I believe, away. The tornado picked it up and molded it to the side of their house. People were constantly driving by and taking pictures of this. It surrounds the window to the family's dining room.

We spent the whole day here working on their house: from about 9 am-6 pm. (The town is being evacuated each night at 8 pm to maintain safety and keep people's possessions safe as well.) Only residents are allowed in as the town was trying to keep gawkers away.



Throughout the day, the streets were crowded with people and trucks that were working to help residents salvage their belongings. One of the things I noticed was how the people of Parkersburg, this soldier and his family in particular, remained upbeat throughout the day. Everyone kept repeating, "It's just a house. These are just possessions. Everyone is safe." It became sort of a mantra that people repeated, I think, to just get through this. Though their own homes were in disarray, and in some cases completely gone, people all over the town were checking on each other, hugging each other, and asking what they could do for each other. I only saw people get teary a few times when talking about places around the house where their kids would play, when they wondered aloud where they would live now, or when thanking each other for all the help and support that was given.


By midafternoon, several people made their way into town bringing vehicles to help load household items. It was really touching how many people gave up their holiday weekend to travel into town (some from as far as Cedar Rapids) to help this soldier, his family, and other townspeople out. The Waterloo-based National Guard was also there along with the Red Cross and several church groups who graciously made sandwiches for lunches, bringing them to each house so people didn't have to quit working. Here are some soldiers talking with a fellow soldier who lost his home. They were busy packing household items in the truck in the background.

Here is a picture of the main highway (57) running through Parkersburg. On the left would have been the town's grocery store and on the right down the road, the Kwik Star. The amount of devastation is indescribable.

This final picture is one I took from the back yard of the soldier we helped. While taking a moment to look around at the town around us, we were surprised to see a familiar sign in the background. We all agreed that it was almost as if we were being told that everything will be ok. Judging from the response of the people I met and worked alongside yesterday, I believe it will be.