We are Here:

The twister, now determined to be an F-4, went through town a couple blocks from Ryan. The trees by his house fell so as to not damage they're home or cars. The screens were blown off his house and some shingles off the shed. The grain elevators were hit, the grocery store lost it's roof. The swimming pool house has the roof sitting next to the building. The new addition to the school lost it's roof right where Matthew's classroom is, the gym was damage  so school is out for awhile just before it got started. The trailer courts were demolished. The fire house is "just gone", as he put it, the community center sustained damage but is still there, same with city hall. The Cool Stuff restaurant is there and they have generators outside so they are saving some of their food. They are being told "two weeks to restore power". I told him to go get a generator and I would help him out with the cost. Cars are out in the fields and a lot of debris strewn all around. He said he didn't see a lot of houses with severe damage but it is still very bad and he did not get all over town. He is going to e-mail pictures that he took while he was walking around when he can. Rebecca was at the Red cross station trying to help out. If he does send pictures I will post them.

9/2/2007

Ryan Called tonight and we had a short e-mail from Becca earlier this week. The electricity went on Fri (8/31). Their meals the past week were provided by the Red Cross and Salvation Army. They saved their freezer goods by Running an extension to it from their landlords generator. I guess the fridge was pretty low on goods anyway as it was time to do the shopping when the twister hit. It was just about as wide as the town is. Matthew has been bored as most of the kids were sent relatives elsewhere. He'll start school soon in another town and when a different town has an unused floor of their school ready, he will go there for the rest of the year. Northwood's school will either be bulldozed and totally rebuilt or portions demolished and the rest rebuilt around what is salvageable. Cost of doing either will be about the same, guess I'd rebuild the whole thing. The powers that be are still kicking that around.

Last Monday volunteer businesses came in with heavy equipment and hauled out over 1,000 truckloads of debris. That was large dump trucks and semi-sized side dumpers. Other volunteers came in and attacked what was left, trees and spaces the large equipment could not get at, and the trunks of trees left behind that would have to go. They took down what was left of the two large trees at his place pulled out the stumps, filled the hole with dirt and leveled it. It is getting down to where the rest will be in the hands of the individual land owners.

Becca went back to school but he has been helping around town and watching Matthew. The day care center opened in the bank on thursday so Matthew went there for awhile. Ryan tried to send a couple files of pictures but they bounced back as the attachments were too large. So he'll try again..