May 8th Tornado continued

We worked our way into the neighborhood and after 2 or 3 blocks, we began to see evidence of tornado damage. As we got further into the neighborhood, we began to encounter downed trees and powerlines in the road. That, coupled with other people arriving on their way home from work and people wandering around on foot made the going slow. Finally, about three blocks from her sister, Patty's house, Peggy jumped out of the car and began running in that direction. I continued to work my way through the twisting residential streets in the car. I finally got to Patty's street and parked about a block away from her house, as a policeman was already blocking vehicle access to the street.

As I walked up the hill towards Patty's house, I spotted Peggy sitting on the curb across the street from the house. I ran toward her asking if everyone was okay. She told me they were, but Patty's house was totaled. At that point I looked over at the house and indeed it was a wreck. While the walls were still standing, the entire roof of the split-level home as well as all doors and windows were gone. Patty and Alan, her husband, were recovering from the shock of seeing their home in shambles and beginning to consider their course of action. I asked Peggy where Lyndsey was and she said she was at Mickey's house, which is around the corner from Patty's. Mickey's house had received substantial roof damage although it was not in nearly as bad of shape as Patty's house.

After talking to Patty and Alan for a few minutes, I headed over to Mickey's house to find Lyndsey. When I arrived, she wasn't there. I was told to look at Lyndsey's car which had been parked in front of Mickey's. The windshield had a hole punched in it from some heavy object and was shattered. All the other windows except the driver's side rear passenger window, were completely broken out and the car had been turned around 180 degrees by the storm, facing the opposite direction from which it had been parked. I was told Lyndsey and her cousin Jessica had walked to the school which is just up the street, so I headed that way. As I neared the school, I saw Lyndsey and Jessica walking back toward me, so I waved to Lyndsey and waited for her. Together, we started walking back to Patty's house. Once there, I talked to Peggy about trying to get to Sarah's to check on her since we hadn't been able to reach her on the phone. We decided she would stay there and help her sisters while I went to find out about Sarah.

Picture Index    Back to Hansen Home Page