April 27, 2011
by Tori Myers
English,
3/14/12
On April 27, 2011, my life and state was changed by a tornado. It started out as a regular day and didn’t end that way. We all went to school just like any other day just got out earlier than normal. No one thought it would get as bad as it did. People didn’t take any warnings not thinking that anything would happen to them.
Around three-thirty that day everything started going downhill. The skies were turning grey and didn’t look good at all. James Spann was on the TV saying to get in your safe spots if you were in a certain area. Well, we didn’t think anything would happen to any of our towns around here. God definitely showed His strength in a different way this day. James told Pleasant Grove to get down and stay safe. Some people didn’t listen.
As the tornado was hitting, people were trying and trying to get a hold of love ones. So many people were hit and hurting. The news was all saying about who was hit. I kept getting texts and phone calls from people asking if I was okay and if I heard from anyone else. A lot of stuff was spread that day……….not just lies, but also people’s possessions. God showed how His power could be used for bad things so good things would happen afterwards.
As the morning hours came, more and more things were found out. Seeing everything on the TV was bad, but until you saw it all in real life it didn’t hit you. You couldn’t get into the places unless you had people there. I got in and immediately started crying in disbelief that just that Sunday everything was fine and we had our Easter drama. Now walking through I had no idea where I was. It was hard seeing pieces of houses everywhere and seeing things that were just gone or in the total wrong place. I remember how cars were on top of houses or in the middle of ditches. Houses had gaping holes in them and trees were everywhere. You could see all the way across. People looking through lost possessions, crying because of losses, and trying to find people that were missing.
I just remember seeing the people from all over come through and start helping. I have never seen people work that fast. In the first week, houses were cleaned and tarped, and after that people were starting to feel a little better. God showed how He was and is always with us through it.
I have never been through so much stuff in my life. That day turned my life upside down. Hearing the people’s stories was even worse. I couldn’t have even imagined my friends not being able to live or even find their house. Walking to our church was hard. It was a long walk but it was worth it trying to find out who had died and if they were all okay. God put his light into everything that went on at the church and that community. I will never forget seeing so many people come together. The thought of so many houses and things gone just looking around is still running through my mind till this day. Driving through there now still makes me miss the old Pleasant Grove. I will never forget that day that turned my life upside down.