It was a highly unusual event for the area and made national, and international, headlines everywhere. In a year that is already plagued by tornado problems throughout the country what happened here Thursday only further identifies this as the year of the tornado. At least in America. In an ailing Japan it will most likely be the year of the tsunami, or the year of the meltdown-that-wasn't-a-meltdown-that-was.
We're lucky that the storm wasn't as violent as others in the Midwest have been in 2011. That isn't to say there weren't deaths. There were, four people have been confirmed killed so far. One of them was a man driving down the street when the tornado uprooted a tree onto his car, killing him instantly. It's a scary thought that one.
It's not like there was any warning that this was going to happen. I had heard that thunderstorms were likely but nothing more. Earlier that day I had worked and was able to take the bus into downtown Westfield. I walked home from the bus dropoff taking my normal route, past the Big Y and up the hill. At the time it was beautiful out and quite hot. Sweat was pouring off me by the time I got home since most of my walk was in direct sunlight. It wasn't until several hours later that the skies started going black and the rain slowly came. Even when the storm started there was barely any indication it would be a bad one.
The first sounds of thunder were heard in the distance and the skies got dark. The rain changed from a light sprinkling to hardcore downpour in a matter of minutes. To me it seemed like any other thunderstorm yet news quickly spread that it was so much more. The power went out while I was in the basement, which left me in pitch black. So I went upstairs, where the nervous dog greeted me enthusiastically, and watched the storm unfold in the streets. I got a text from Ashes about this time telling me that she had heard there was a tornado. She was taking her students into the basement as a tornado warning had been issued. Little did either of us know that by the time the warning was issued the largest of the tornadoes had already blown through Westfield and West Springfield. As worrying as it all was I felt safe in the house.
Yet I shouldn't have felt so safe, as the largest of the tornadoes had started only a few miles from my house. There were half a dozen tornadoes in a 1-2 hour period as the storm raged on. With power out I got all of my information from texting with Ashes. I could hear sirens screaming down College Highway, I later learned they were heading to Shaker Heights to deal with damage there. When the power came back on at around 6 o'clock I immediately sought out any news stories. I found videos of the twister, several dozen posted in an hour period, and numerous news reports. Downtown Springfield had been hit by the most powerful of the tornadoes. Yesterday we found out it was F3 strength which is incredibly bizarre for this area. Springfield had been hit bad and areas were demolished.
Luckily Ashes drove home after the worst of the storm had passed but that didn't stop me from worrying. In fact there was plenty of storm left. She saw black clouds on the way home and had to drive through intense rain. Not ten minutes after she got home another, smaller tornado ripped through Westfield. She was lucky in her timing, very lucky and I'm glad for that.
We had to pick up our roommates (landlords, Ashes' aunt) from the bus station yesterday, after they arrived home from Africa. This gave me a chance to see the destruction in downtown first hand. The park next to city hall that I had sat in and read not even a week ago was completely destroyed. Giant trees were torn up from their roots and littered the whole area. A section of Main Street was closed off and further down you could see ruined buildings and rubble in the streets. On the on ramp to I-91 was debris and tree limbs. Even in the Midwest I think it's rare for a tornado to get a direct hit on a major city so it's no wonder this is such a compelling disaster story. Fortunately most of the damage was structural and the loss of life was minimal.
At the moment all I know is I and Ashes are very lucky not to have been in the path of any of these tornadoes.
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