Lessons from a Tornado

All my life I've heard the Indian Legend that Tecumseh would never be hit by a tornado because it sits between two rivers. Well, last night that legend was proven false. My town was hit and hit hard. We went to the cellar for the first time since we've lived back here. On several occasions we have gathered in our living room with Randy and Cindy and our family and waited out a storm. We always have been able to avoid going to the cellar, but last night we went. Almost immediately after it went over the house, everything cleared up. We headed to town to see if Gigi and Aunt Polly were ok. Aunt Polly's house had considerable damage, so we went to work getting a tarp on the house and getting her out to Randy and Cindy's. Gigi went to the shelter in the Housing Authority neighborhood. She was fine. The tornado hit Little Axe, Pink, skipped us, hit a couple of places between here and town, and then it took out a great portion of the south side of Tecumseh. It hit Barnard school and damaged three classrooms. It hit the board of education office and bus barn and completely wiped out a couple of neighborhoods.
We did what we could last night and then began work early this morning. We would be working hard and then look up and see people helping that we haven't seen in quite a while. One lady stopped and said she was headed to the grocery store and asked if we needed anything. All morning long we worked and worked and worked. It didn't take long until we were seeing a light at the end of today's tunnel.
When we finished at Aunt Polly's, we helped her nieces and nephews on the O'Neal side clean up their mom's house. Their mom passed away around Easter, so they are having to clean up her house much sooner than they thought. Her house had so much more damage than Aunt Polly's, but when dozens of hands are working, progress is quick.
Now, this is what I learned from this tornado.
1. Cold water is my friend. I went to the grocery store and bought two cases this morning. Nothing is as refreshing as really cold water when you are hot and tired, and the humidity is 90%.
2. People are weird. I was absolutely amazed at the sight-seers. Never in my wildest dreams would I drive to another city that has been hit by a tornado and drive around take pictures.
3. People are wonderful. I was also amazed at the kindness of so many people. Many of them worked at her house until they saw that we had things under control. Then they went on to help someone else. The Pentecostal Church of God set us a kitchen to feed those who needed a meal. The story is that they plan to feed 750 for breakfast in the morning. Harrah Church where I attend also has been set up as a shelter and are providing food, clothing, and a cool cup of water to those in need.
4. Nature is in control. We can use precautions, we can plan, and we can plot, and we can think that we have things in our control, but days like yesterday remind me that we are not in control. There was nothing we could have done yesterday to protect the property that was damaged.
5. Most Oklahomans are smart and respect the weather. We have the very best weather service in the nation. The National Weather Service in Norman will give us a time-table that tells the exact minute that the tornado will hit our town. We know how to protect our lives in the face of a tornado. There were some fatalities, but compared to the numbers in other states, our fatality rate is very low.
6. God is good. I didn't really learn this today, but it is a truth that needs repeating.