|
Resting in Parkersburg
By Donna Walker
DR769-08
Albert Borchers had seen twisters before, twice, in
fact. Both had touched down in Buck Grove, Iowa, in 1938
and in 1952. He knew what was happening when it got
black.
So he and his sister-in-law, Ann, headed west without
stopping as planned at the cemetery for a visit the
Sunday before Memorial Day, 2008.
“It caught us in Parkersburg,” he said as he drank his
coffee in the Red Cross kitchen in the Veteran’s
Memorial Building.
They went to Kwik Star where Ann got struck with a Jeep,
“No one was in it. It was just flying through the air,”
said Borchers, 79. He worried about her as he lay pinned
against the dashboard of his Mercury Marquis which had
hit a steel pole. Both made it, but Borchers sports two
black eyes.
He said thanks for the burger, beans and chocolate
pudding, a hearty meal before he headed to Waterloo to
visit Ann in the hospital.
Nearby, sat Amy and Irvin Haan, parents of three: aged
one, five and eight. They spent the storm in their
basement and Amy saw the tornado when it was West in
Aplington.
“It looked like a bunch of clouds that were lower. They
weren’t twirling.” Amy and Borcher agreed that the
weather wasn’t severe at the time.
The Haan home wasn’t destroyed but it wasn’t habitable,
either.
“I remember the sound of the house breaking,” Amy said.
“We have a walkout basement so we could see our house
breaking.”
The Haans had been by the Red Cross kitchen every day at
meal times. They felt lucky to still have their home,
but wondered how long it would take for repairs when
there were so many others who had lost everything and
would rebuild.
Although the air was somber, smiles were still
surfacing. Young girls from DNH – Dike-New Hartford –
served meals; 9-year-old Samantha worked at the
information table; and Red Cross counselors traveled
among them all and struck up conversations.
###
Donna Walker is a volunteer with the Iowa Rivers
Chapter of the American Red Cross in Marshalltown, Iowa.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE
RED CROSS RESPONSE TO THIS DISASTER-click here
STORIES FROM THE FIELD:
RED CROSS HELP COMES "IN
EVERY WAY, SHAPE, AND FORM"-click here
SURVIVOR DIRECTS DONATIONS
TO RED CROSS-click here |
