60 lines
2.3 KiB
Plaintext
60 lines
2.3 KiB
Plaintext
REFLECTIONS ON DISASTER
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When the weather system that created those awful tornadoes which killed so
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many in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Canada swept through our part of the country, we
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were only slightly more jittery than usual during tornado season.
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We knew we were underneath some monster thunderstorms. We held fast to the TV
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and often looked worriedly out the window. There was something different about
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the very air.
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"Go look outside, Bob. See if you can see anything."
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"Just look at the radar, Honey. The big ones are south of us."
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And, living in Kansas we should know about these things.
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"It's so still outside. Not a breath of air."
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"And the sky is kind of brownish..."
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As the storms raged around our slice of suburbia, we watched a ball game on
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the tube and discussed where the safest refuge might be should we be advised to
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take cover.
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The center hall? Under some heavy furniture? Or should we leave for the
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church basement?
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The sirens began to wail.
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And, this time, the funnel clouds didn't touch ground as they passed us by.
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Not fifteen hours later, hundreds of miles to the east, those storms dropped
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hell on many. They killed almost a hundred, laid waste whole communities.
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Caused millions of dollars in damage.
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As we watched the videotaped highlights of the disaster, we realized how
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silly, how complacent we had been. What if it had happened here?
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Would we have survived, huddled together in the hallway or under heavy
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furniture? Uh-uh.
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We were jaded -- used to the process that brings severe weather every spring.
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Sure, we were nervous, but not enough to go out of our way to take the
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precautions that would have saved our lives.
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We discussed this as we watched the awful news about Albion and other
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communities wiped nearly off the face of the map by hundred-mile tornadoes:
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"Those were pretty big tornadoes."
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"Yeah, but think of the odds! It's not like a hurricane that covers hundreds
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of square miles. Tornadoes are like a crap shoot. Hit or miss."
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"Sure, but who knows where they'll strike? We would have been sucked up and
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spit out like toothpicks! No way hiding in the hall would have saved us."
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"Well, it's over now. We'll be more careful next time."
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Next time. Right.
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