One of the biggest changes recently has been the tornado that has affected so
many people here in my new hometown, Winchester, Indiana. I believe about 50
homes were completely demolished and more than 100 others severely damaged. There are
lots of homes which are still sitting with tarped roofs and boarded windows. Here
at our condo complex two units had to be completely torn down (that's 4 families
out of a home) and about a quarter of the others so severely damaged that people couldn't move back in for days or weeks. Lots are like me; windows were boarded and living here but
really we're just existing, waiting for the repairs to happen. So many people
are in the same boat that a person can't complain; it seems like a hopeless situation some days. And other days, when you see progress going on just down the street, you feel more hopeful.
It happened March 14, more than five months ago. About 8 p.m. The sirens warned us and I believe that was
why we had no deaths in town. It was a miracle. I left my chair where I was
watching the weather radar on TV and went into the guest bathroom, which is in
about the center of the condo. I took a throw I had on the chair and covered my
head with it and hunkered down between the stool and the tub. Almost immediately
it came thru. I don't know how to describe it. The sound. The worse besides the
roar was the sound of things hitting the outside and roof. And the sound of
breaking glass. Then it was over. Quiet for a few moments.
Had my cell with me so I called my son Jeff to see if they were ok.
They were out of town, near Cambridge City, and he said he would come back and
get me. I called Ray and he told me what to gather together and put in the car
and lock. No power so I couldn't drive out because of the garage door. (And found out a few minutes later that I couldn't have driven out anyway because there was an electrical line down across the only street of egress from our complex.)
Besides this computer and paper files, I put Wendell's ashes
in the car, too. Ray suggested that. As I went around with a flashlight gathering some clothing and other things, I could
see several of the windows were broken on the west side as well as the door to
the patio. There was a board laying in front of the bookcase. In the office there
were shingles laying on top of the desk and on this computer and the printer and
the floor. Lots of shingles and pieces of boards. And it was raining lightly, coming in the broken windows. Two pairs of men came to the front door
and almost immediately emergency people started checking every home in my
complex. I could see flashing lights and people shouting. Jeff got here in about an hour and he had to walk me out to Greenville
Pike because of the downed power line. It was quite a walk for me but the adrenaline kept me going. I could see how badly the condos were damaged. Jeff
said, don't worry, you can stay at our house. Well, when we finally made it to
their house it was worse than mine. My heart broke for Jane and Jeff! They had worse damage than me.
Bottom line, around midnight we ended up in
Richmond at a motel for the night, and ended up staying there for four nights. Jane's mom was taken to the local motel
(where she still is BTW). She had just moved into the Lodge at Summer's Pointe two days prior to the tornado! Poor Betty! What a shock for her and just all of us. The next few
days were a blur of patching up repairs. I stayed at the motel and then I went to an Airbnb place near Hollandburg OH for a few days until I had the
place cleaned up enough to move back in. Had to have power restored, gas meter
reinstalled (they had to pull it), and venting for the gas furnace & water
heater repaired. My insurance adjust came to see me literally the next morning;
he was here when we came back to town from the motel. I was paid within a week! God bless Farm Bureau Insurance!
Since then I've gotten a new roof, new AC unit, new
siding on all sides, new windows and doors, new
garage door, new exterior trim, new storm doors, new shutters, painted front door, attic insulation replaced as needed,
interior walls and ceilings inspected for moisture, fireplace inspected, crawl
space inspected (found a little mold in one small spot and that was remediated). That will make this place look as good as new.
They are beginning to rebuild the two units here that were destroyed.
In town the
tornado demolished three churches (including the one I went to), damaged Randolph Nursing & Rehab beyond repair; a strip center near Walmart that had Verizon, a tobacco shop,
Japanese restaurant, nail salon was destroyed; the Goodwill store is still a skeleton; another thrift store was damaged beyond repair; part of the Silvertowne foundry was demolished, and Taco Bell leveled. In my complex it badly damaged
the Summer's Pointe Lodge, an assisted living place; those folks are still
living at various motels and nursing homes in the area. That's enough of that.
Boy, that's the first time I've written that in full.
I still journal (on paper) but have
been lax about that since the tornado, too. No words can express how that incident affected me mentally. So, I think I'll just end with some
photos.
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| Debris caught in the fence row near our complex. |
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| The entrance to Walmart on right with debris of the Taco Bell. On left, Silvertowne and at the point, the New Life Church was leveled. |
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| This was the day I got a new roof! Yeah! |
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| Entrance to our complex. The duck pond is full of debris. |
All of this looks different now and that is good. Two of the three churches intend to re-build. The nursing home is in limbo. The strip center will not be rebuilt. Goodwill says they will be back. Taco Bell just re-opened last week. The Lodge at Summers Pointe will reopen next month. It's looking up.
God is good!
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