The day started out like any other normal day. It had finally cooled off enough that I could to up to the shop and do the bookkeeping for the last quarter. The kids had been looking forward to setting up a lemonade stand and trying their hand at entrepreneurialism. They did really good for the few hours they were open, clearing over ten dollars from less than 2 quarts of lemonade. They ended up getting donations from adults that thought what they were doing was cool so they would toss them a dollar or let them keep the change from a 10 cent glass of ice and lemon koolaid.
The storm began to roll in about 11am. The kids were forced to move their stand inside as the raindrops began to fall. We were not quite prepared for what was to follow.
At around 11:30 am the sky grew dark over Trenton and the wind began to blow. A thunderstorm had rolled in. Suddenly, the town tornado sirens began to blow and fear began to set in.
The power went out and we knew that we were in for a stormy ride. As the wind increased and rain fell heavier, we watched out the garage bay doors as leaves and small branches from trees began to litter the streets. Looking up into the sky above us, we could see clouds spinning in an unnatural way. We knew a tornado was coming or was somewhere nearby because nothing else made clouds rotate that way.
We watched in amazement as a transformer blew up across the street throwing blue and orange sparks as it exploded; once, twice and then three times. The wind and rain became so intense that we could barely see shadows of the homes across the street from us. Then the wind tore a huge branch from a nearby tree which fell on power lines less than a block away from us. We watched the tree catch fire and the sparks flew from the arching power lines.
The children and I huddled in a doorway of the concrete structure of our building, children clinging to my side. They begged me to take them home but there was no way I was going to drive in that storm. I knew our van would be blown off the road if I tried driving into the massive storm.
We watched as the fire continued in the tree in spite of the water that fell from the sky. Rod called the fire department and notified them of the fire but nothing could be done about it because of the current weather condition. Finally the power lines broke and the tree branch fell to the ground with a loud crash.
The storm finally passed and traffic began to steadily increase. In a small town of about 2,600, the traffic was unusually high. We realized it was people going out to check on the damage scattered throughout the town.
Without power I knew it was useless to try to finish my work so I decided it was best to go home and check on the damage there. Leaving town was difficult. I felt like a mouse trying to find my way out of a maze. I would drive one block, sit at the crossroad and look in all directions trying to find a path that was not blocked by fallen trees or power lines lying across the road.
We finally found our way out of town and were awed at the power of the storm. The destruction was widespread. All the way home my children pointed out fallen trees and were amazed at the flat cornfields that were going to bring farmers a bumper crop this year.
As we pulled into our neighborhood we were relieved to see that the destruction was not as severe as it was in the neighboring town where we rode out the storm. There were fallen trees and no power but we could tell it was not quite as severe here. We turned onto our street and every yard was littered with downed trees and branches.
We pulled into our driveway and one of the kids yelled, “Look mom! Our tree is still there!” The kids love that tree. When we first moved into this house it was a skinny twig about 3 1/2 foot tall. Over the years it grew into a great climbing tree for the kids.
I then noticed our dogs were out in the yard. They were soaking wet and two of them were outside our fence. Then I realized that half our fence was blown down. The back side of our fence is a 6 foot privacy fence and large sections of it were laying flat in the yard, having been ripped down by the wind. We gathered the dogs inside and I went out into the back yard to survey the damage.
The above ground swimming pool was still standing but half the fence between our yard and the neighbor behind us had been torn down. Suddenly I heard our neighbor, who was on his roof repairing torn shingles yell out: “Next time you want to come over, just use the front door!” We laughed and it helped to relieve some of the tension.
We helped the neighbor repair the fence. I then went to our next door neighbor’s house and began helping them clear branches and pile them up as another neighbor cut up their fallen trees with a chain saw. In about two hours we had his yard cleaned up; leaving two giant piles of what was once two beautiful trees that shaded his home.
The kids and I then took a walk through the neighborhood to survey the damage. Almost nobody escaped without some sort of damage - even minor damage. People were outside in force trying to put their yards and lives back in order.
We got word that a tornado did touch down in Trenton where we rode out the storm. It seems that one person managed to get it on a home video recorder. News helicopters flew over like buzzards filming the damage the storm left in it’s wake as people continued clearing away the debris.
The towns that were hit the hardest soon flooded with law enforcement. They had to protect the banks and businesses that were without power. I understand they made temporary housing out of the local elementary school where the police could sleep until power is restored and they could return to their own homes.
Our local electric company trucks were in St. Louis helping get power restored after another recent storm but they were called home to deal with our own disaster. Neighboring towns that were not hit got flooded with hungry families that had no way to cook at home. Restaurants were packed and were quickly running out of food from the unexpected rush of people from the towns that were hardest-hit.
Candles and oil lamps began flickering as darkness fell over the quiet towns. We enjoyed sitting in our living room making up games, playing with glow sticks and talking about our favorite family memories. Darkness sometimes does that to families; brings them closer because there is no electricity, television or other distractions.
As the new day dawned, several scattered areas had power restored. We are one of those lucky few. We still don’t have cable TV, Internet or phone service, but I am able to sit down at my keyboard and write out my thoughts from the previous day’s events.
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