Tornado

March 31, 2023. All week there were warnings of the cold and warm fronts colliding on Thursday/ Friday. So Friday afternoon, a little later than expected, when the wind began to blow I told the family it was not the time to count baby pigs. They scoffed (Iowan's are weird about storm bravery) and said I was exaggerating. But we saw the funnel clouds coming, and a friend was chasing and kept us updated. I did get the family in the basement but had to sit on their last nerve to keep them there. The news said, "It's now heading up Johnson Iowa Road." Gulp. And the mortgage on the new shop/house started in April. Would we lose it before we started paying for it? 

But it turned a bit and hit the rental farm a mile south of us. Mo and Nathan live there, but their house wasn't hit. Two neighbor houses were. It obliterated both cattle group fences, bunks and buildings. Now, the barns were already decrepit, but it is still hard to see everything gone- especially the hearty windbreak that provided such a warm place for the cattle in the winter. Long strips of tin from neighbor barns twisted high in the trees like flags. Doug and I headed to the pasture to get corral gates. Twenty or so people with all-terrain vehicles were suddenly all around, rounding up cattle. It was amazing. Two cows didn't make it. 

After they were all in, we went to the first barn and found two fat cattle swimming in the 8 ft pit filled with water. That about did me in- it was like the emergencies just wouldn't quit happening. But neighbors helped fish them out- we backed the cattle trailer into the heated-floor shop, surrounded by straw, and by morning they were fine. Unbelievable. 

We gradually worked at clean-up all week- it felt like we were moving through glue, taking pictures of all the twisted and tossed around machinery- most of our hay-making equipment was stored on that farm in a machine shed that was nowhere to be found. Two giant blue silos lay dented on the ground. Friday was our Mennonite Disaster Service day. About 75 neighbors, along with others we didn't know, helped walk the fields to pick up debris, and picked up around the corrals. Lots of skid-loaders with grapples, mini back-hoe, excavator and bulldozer made such a difference. Pickups went through the fields and people put boards and tin on hydraulic trailers. A neighbor with a tiling business dug at HUGE hole and debris was thrown in and burned, then covered up and another big hole dug next to it for the windbreak. 

Neighbors brought meals and the kids seemed to gather each night to eat it. It helped to be together and decide what the next day would bring. We haven't decided how to rebuild since it's a rental. We are grateful the houses weren't hit- at least 5 families in our area lost their homes.