My hometown was hit by what they are calling an F3 tornado with winds up to 144 mph on Thursday. I would like to share a comment that my son-in-law posted on Facebook today. I copied it so I don't misquote him:
"I keep reading posts saying that Marshalltown is destroyed, devastated, or ruined. Marshalltown is none of those things. Many of our historic buildings are heavily damaged, many people have lost their homes, several area businesses are torn apart, but the people of this town are still strong. We'll recover and rebuild. It's what Iowans do when we get collectively knocked down, we pull together and get back up stronger than before. This town is the people who live here, not the buildings that fell here. We are going to be ok."
It's very true. And I consider myself very fortunate to have such a wise young man in my family.
The news does get a bit dramatic sometines in their descriptions of events... glad they are ok!
My town was devastated. One of the main factories was decimated. Another was damaged enough to be closed well over a week. It's still not functioning 100%. Hundreds of people are homeless and jobless. I was lucky. MY family is all alive and well at this point. Many are still homeless. Many are still without gas because of a major gas leak. Yeah. I guess that might sound "dramatic" to someone who hasn't been through it. They're saying it might take 5 years or more for our town to recover. It just makes me sad.