Stories from the April 16, 1998 Tornado

I think of these times, now, as "markers." A sign of aging, I suppose. When you can date your life by the events you can perfectly recall...to the day, to the hour, to the moment. Where you were, who was there. I was young then, but the first one I remember was President Kennedy. Then, Martin Luther King. Robert Kennedy. Nixon's resignation. Challenger explosion. Princess Diana. 9/11/2001. Just a few of the world events that have interspersed with my own life's joys and sorrows to create those particular 'markers' that, in small ways or large, for better or for worse...have changed lives.

Ten years ago today, April 16 became another of those markers.

Our home was the command center for the Edgefield neighborhood after the storm. For many days, the front door to our home stayed unlocked with a sign on it: "Doorbell not working-- come on in!"

People said we were crazy; people said we were generous...not really. It wasn’t our idea; my good friend and HEI President Thom Brown in his usual focused and organized way came up with the idea of a “command center” to organize everything and keep people informed… Since we had the generator and coffeepot going we provided the place, he provided the leadership.

Far from being a bother, it was a privilege to have our neighbors in our home. At any hour of the day or night you could count on someone being around to talk to...and I think if there was ever a time we needed to be around others...that was it. I remember so vividly how people put the needs of others first. So many of them whose own houses were broken...were going out every day to help those whose damage was even worse. These days brought to us living examples of the concept of unselfishness. EVERY contribution, EVERY act of goodness counted.

How I wish I had thought to get out our camera. To capture images of all those dear faces. Truly one of those times that you just "had to be there."

The storm equalized us as a group of neighbors. If it ever was about who had the nicest house, whose furniture was the most expensive, who gave the best parties...it certainly was about that no more. We were all in this together, and as the long days and nights without lights went by, we drew even closer as friends. Truly, the greatest blessing of this time period was the way we were all there for one another. Yes, it was good to have some of our physical needs met, such as food, showers and of course coffee but more than that...we were shell shocked...and, the very best part of all this was that there was ALWAYS someone to listen, someone to talk with, someone to laugh with, someone to cry with.

None of us could have known, and looking back, I’m so glad we didn’t...that most of us would face months of wrangling with our insurance companies, that we would look at the acres of bluetarped roofs for such a long, long time. We didn't anticipate the dread and fear some of us would experience the next time a storm rolled in...the same dread & fear that many still feel when there's threatening weather. I think most of us innocently expected that our insurance companies would pay up, that the contractors would show up on time, and that the leaks would stop. For most of us they did, finally but not without a price. Maybe there was a reason the lights stayed off so long, just to give us the time to process what had happened before we had to face some very surprising and stressful realities.

We all celebrated when the lights finally came back on, but at the same time there was also a let down. People said to us later that we must be relieved to have our house back…..no, we could not say that. We MISSED everyone! I look back on the day that I finally took down the “Come on in” sign; it made me sad.

In a way, time stopped for us here in EN back in 1998...but of course after the lights came back on the world wanted to know when we would "get back to normal." Back to normal? I think not. I say this in a "good" way...we would never be normal in that sense again. No matter where our paths have taken us in these past 10 years, no matter where they lead from this time on, those of us who went through this “marker” together will always share that bond.

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