Nose for News by Sarah Stultz

 

When the tornado sirens sounded in Albert Lea last week, I knew it was sure to spark quite the conversation with my parents, who were visiting from Virginia.

Though some tornadoes have touched down in Virginia, the state does not get near the same threat for severe weather as the Midwest.

We were on our way out of town to the outlets in Medford when the sirens went off. We were only a few blocks away from my house, and we immediately pulled up the National Weather Service website and other news sites on our phones to see if anything was headed this way.

My mom grew up in the Midwest and recalls an experience when she was younger when a tornado went through her family’s community. She has talked several times about all of the dead birds they found that dropped in their yard after the tornado.

Luckily, the tornado last week caused minimal damage near Glenville, but it reminded me of almost nine years ago, when multiple tornadoes swept through Freeborn County on June 17, 2010, and caused much more devastation.

It’s weird that even though I did not live through those tornadoes firsthand like many others did in our community, I can’t help but think about that experience every time I drive through some of the areas that were hit the hardest.

I think of what the different areas looked like after the tornadoes, the stories we heard as we reported on the aftermath in the newspaper and the strength that many of the affected people showed as they picked up the pieces and began to rebuild their homes, livelihoods and lives.

My conversations with some of those people in the days and weeks after will forever be ingrained in my mind.

As we drove across the countryside west of Albert Lea Sunday afternoon after church, I showed my parents some of the areas that had been rebuilt. Even now, years later, those areas still show evidence of those storms with some of the ragged trees remaining.

I’m hoping that kind of destruction doesn’t happen again any time soon and that we have a quiet summer.

In the meantime, I plan on reviewing tips for being safe in case of another tornado. Though tornadoes can pop up anytime and anywhere, we can be aware of weather reports and know what to do in case one is headed our way. Know the safest place to go if you’re in your home, on the road or at some other location when a tornado comes through.

The website at www.ready.gov/tornadoes offers a lot of helpful  information for people to use to be prepared in the event of this or other natural disasters.

Sarah Stultz is the managing editor of the Tribune. Her column appears every Tuesday.