A tornado is one of mankind’s most dangerous and elusive natural foes. They can develop in the middle of a sunny day, grow within minutes, and strike without warning. They can destroy an entire town, or pick and choose which properties to devastate, and they can disappear and then reappear many miles away. Thanks to Doppler radar, and all the advances in meteorology, the threat of a potential tornado can be predicted and tracked, giving people in the vicinity a little more time to prepare, but in the long run, when they decide to strike is still anyone’s guess, and this is what makes them so terrifying.
Tornadoes can wipe out one home, a block, or an entire city, but the aftermath is always the same. Once the roaring and the wind have subsided, there is usually rain, and if it is at night, total darkness. Power lines and poles are no match for winds that may be well over 100 mph. There will certainly be outages in the immediate area, and many times in the surrounding community or neighborhoods as well. To compound the problem, there will also be power poles, lines and trees across streets, making it difficult for rescue workers and utility trucks to get around. Streets and roadways will be blocked off as quickly as possible. The fact that there are electric lines down is a threat in itself and occasionally someone is killed by encountering one of these hot wires. Often phone service is disrupted, and even cell phones may not work as they should.
If the house is still standing, there may very well be some major damage such as a tree that has been blown over onto the roof. In some cases, part of the roof itself may be gone. Since there is normally a lot of rain, this causes even more structural damage and damage to the home’s contents. Even if the structure itself is relatively untouched, there is usually debris on the property.
It may very well be hours, or days before power is restored to the area. The neighborhood or community may be without electricity, or water for an extended period and this is the reason that many homeowners have a backup generator, either installed directly to the home, or a free standing gasoline model that can be used in emergencies. They also keep emergency provisions on hand such as bottled water, food, and battery powered radios and flashlights. Shelters are generally opened for those hardest hit who cannot remain in their homes.
Cleanup and rebuilding after a tornado is a long, tedious process that begins immediately. Felled trees need to be cut and hauled away, power lines restored, and any structural damage repaired as soon as possible. But rebuilding is sometimes easier than living with the memory of the event. Those that have survived a tornado never take weather alerts lightly, and they live with the terror of the event for the rest of their lives.
