Sitting around with little to do but heal results in watching a lot of TV, even when I am working on my laptop doing other things. Obviously, the big news today is the damage done by a tornado to Moore Oklahoma, a suburb of Oklahoma City.
My good friend, Jim, lives a few miles North of this spot, so I had to check in with him and make sure he and his wife are OK. They got hit with a hail storm a few weeks ago that killed the roof on their home, and did not need this at all. (They are away on a trip back East, so they are OK).
Xenia, April 3, 1974
My first real encounter with a tornado was back in 1974, shortly after I entered the USAF at Wright-Patterson, AFB near Dayton Ohio. I was in the middle of getting my pilot's license at the base Aero Club, and had a ground school session scheduled this evening at the Air force Institute of Technology school (where I later taught). I had just reached home after work and quickly changed out of my uniform into civilian clothes and opened up the door to my townhouse to go to the class. I remember the sky was pretty dark, and the wind was fierce. I had to brace myself on the wall to pull the door closed. Driving the few miles to the class was interesting. There was no rain, just evil looking clouds and a bunch of wind.
I reached the class, and about two dozen other folks, all eager to become pilots, gathered to start the class. I remember someone running in and asking if anyone had heard what was going on in Xenia. We managed to get a radio out (no Internet back then) and heard that a tornado had hit Xenia, about six miles away. Xenia was well know to most of us, since we regularly flew over the town to a practice area just south-east of the town. I do not remember much about the rest of the class, and things seemed calmer when I drove home later that evening.
All out alert
The next morning, when I got to work, we found out that every able-bodied person on the base was going to be going to Xenia to help with the rescue/cleanup. Xenia had been hit dead center by an EF-3 tornado (the one today is being called an EF-4 or EF-5) Sadly, 36 people had lost their lives that last evening. The Xenia tornado cut a path about a half mile wide and three miles long right through the center of the town. We rushed home to change into work clothes, then got back onto buses that drove us the short distance to Xenia. My first memory of that drive was amazing. There was rubble everywhere, and the rubble was a mix of cars, toys, refrigerators, train parts, roofs, walls, trees. To say it was a mess was an understatement. Nothing looked like a normal city! It looked more like a war zone!
We were taken to a local high school where we found out what part of town we would be covering. I was assigned to the housing development that was practically wiped out by the twister. Our job was to help anyone we could, and look for possible survivors. We wandered down the streets offering help to anyone we could and listening to their stories. Here are a few that I remember.
My Paycheck?
One lady was sitting on the porch of what used to be here home. The house was partially there, but the roof was gone. Her first question was "Can you help me find my paycheck?" She had been paid that day and was sure she was going to need that check. Sadly, there was not much we could do for her. She told us that she had looked out the window and saw the funnel approaching her house. Rather than try to ride the storm out there, she ran out the front door and jumped into a drainage ditch nearby, She crawled into a storm drain, and as she did so, she told us the roof of her house tried to get into the drain with her. She did not have a scratch, but had to wait until someone pulled the roof parts free so she could get out.
We stayed with her, uprighting her refrigerator (The first of many such things we would flip back upright), helping her collect some clothes, and making sure she was going to be OK, before moving down the street.
My car
Another man was looking around to find his car. It had been parked in his driveway, and he was upset because he had just gotten home after buying new tires for the car. There was no sign of the car. Later, we found out his car was found about five blocks away, on its roof, with nice new tires pointing to the sky. They were fine, the car was a wreck!
Thank God for bathtubs
Another couple told of riding out the storm in the bathtub in a middle bathroom. They might not have picked the right spot, but the stuff that did fall on them was bigger than the tub, so they were protected! The walls were all gone, though
Many more of the same thing
We spent the entire day walking the streets. I do not remember eating or drinking anything, we were too busy. There were several hundred of us doing our best to help out. Toward evening, we walked back toward the school and stopped at a home right off the major intersection of the town. This home was very elegant (or had been). The man who lived there told us that he used to have two majestic oak trees at the end of his sidewalk. His home was hit directly by the funnel, but it was solid enough that it stayed up. He said he heard a noise outside, and opened up his front door to see what was going on. He watched the two oak trees lift off just like rockets and rise up into the sky. He slammed the door shut and ran for his basement.
The train engineer
The story that stuck with me the longest was told by the engineer of a train that was crossing the main road near the center of town. He could see the twister approaching, and he knew the cars on the opposite side of his train could not see it. So he jumped down from the engine, and ran from car to car, gathering up all those who would follow him, and they all ran to a local grocery store. They all survived.
When things calmed down, the engineer walked back to the tracks to find his train gone. The engine was several blocks away, and the cars were scattered everywhere. A local used car lot nearby was cleaned off as well. The cars from that lot went everywhere as well.
End of the day
At the end of the day, we were bused back to the base, and we drove home exhausted from the days work. We managed to do enough that one day that we were not needed again, the National Guard came in, and they effectively sealed off the town while more cleanup went on.
Flying again
They also closed the airspace over Xenia for almost six months. I was doing a lot of flying then, and had to find some other area to practice in. As I flew past Xenia, I could see helicopters all over the place moving equipment and supplies to staging areas.
When they finally opened up the airspace I flew over the center of town, like I usually did when practicing. What I remember the most was the glitter I saw everywhere. All that broken glass was scattered everywhere, and on the bright sunny day, it all glittered everywhere. I also remember seeing huge sections of trees laid out flat in a line. The line snaked around, obviously following th path of the twister, and it waslike some giant roller had laid them all out getting ready for a mojor new road project. It was an amazing sight.
Getting it out of your mind
You see pictures of devastation from tornadoes on TV, as many folks did today. But nothing, and I mean nothing, prepares you to walk through all of that and see the impact it has on the people whose entire lives have been torn up. I remember waking up for months after my experience, sweating from the image of a tornado wandering through my dreams. And all I did was go into that area to help, I did not live through it!
The same day the Xenia tornado hit, there were 148 other tornados recorded in 13 states. It was one of the most devastating days in the history of this country. 27000 people had major damage to their homes.
Pray for those in Moore, they need your support and help!
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