In 1991 a killer tornado hit the neighborhood where we lived. I was at work, but Dianne and the kids were at home which took a direct hit. A friend called me who had seen it on the news and encouraged me to get home as soon as possible which I did. But when I got to our neighborhood, the emergency services had it blocked off and weren’t allowing anyone in. This was a safety issue while they checked homes and utilities to make it safe.
For two hours I didn’t have any way to tell if they were safe or even alive. My mind and my emotions were on a roller coaster ride as I tried to deal with the situation. I called all our friends to see if they had heard from them and they had not. I kept trying to find a way to get into the neighborhood, but everything was blocked off.
Finally, they announced that they were releasing people to walk out of the neighborhood to the school where I and other families were waiting. We all started walking toward our neighborhood with each of us hoping to see our family members as they came out.