So I just finished reading the book "What Stands in a Storm: Three Days in the Worst Superstorm to Hit the South's Tornado Alley" by Kim Cross. I'm sure some people wonder why I read books like that with what I went through. I can't really describe it but talking to other people who went through it and reading stories from other people feels a little like therapy to me. It's a group of people who have been there and have seen and/or experienced it for themselves. The hard part is reading about the people who didn't make it. I've always carried survivor's guilt about being one of the people who survived when so many others didn't. It's something that will never completely go away. I grew up in a family that lost three people in the 1974 super outbreak before I was born. I've seen how it changes their lives, especially when there are children who lose their lives that violently. If you've ever lost anyone in a tornado then this probably isn't a book that you want to read - you've already lived it.
However, I wish others would read it. It's one thing to hear the names of the deceased on TV or see pictures of them. It's another thing entirely to read about the last days, hours, and minutes of their lives. I think if more people did read this it might make tornado preparedness become a top priority for parents. When I read it the mother in me felt my heart break for those families. I think of my children growing up and me not being able to protect them. The survivor in me cried for the victims. As I read about their last texts, Facebook posts, and phone conversations I didn't have to image the horror they felt because I've already lived it. There are no words to explain that kind of terror that you feel deep inside when you know you're going to die in the next few seconds. And unfortunately, you can never get those moments out of your head. They can fade some over time, but you never forget.
I finally got a glimpse of what everyone must have went through with me when they started calling me after the storm and my phone went unanswered over and over and over. The silence is when people expect the worse - and are usually right. In my case however, my phone which had been by my side was buried under the rubble of the house and the only phone number I could remember in that moment was my parents' home phone, my phone number growing up, only their house was no longer standing either.
As we enter severe weather season please take the time to make severe weather plans and discuss them with your family. If you have children make sure they know what the plan is - teach them early and they will remember it later in life. PLEASE, if you don't have a tornado shelter plan now on where to go in the event of a tornado warning. Basements can collapse (if they aren't built as a shelter), and small inner rooms don't always stand.
Don't assume it will never happen to you. I made that mistake. I never thought it would happen to me and neither did any of the families in the book. In fact, I don't know of anyone who ever imagined that it would happen to them. But it does happen to people just like you and me. It always happens to people just like you and me.
http://www.amazon.com/What-Stands-Storm-Superstorm-Tornado
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