This picture is of Johnson Street, where I grew up. The house I grew up in is several blocks to the north. I haven't seen it yet, but the houses near there were standing, so I assume that it's still there, too.
Here I am in my hometown, three days after an EF5 tornado ripped through the southern end of the town. As I approached the town from the west, I saw the State Troopers' roadblock. They were very nice to me, but they did want me to declare what business I had in town. They were trying to protect the residents of the town by ensuring that people who enter the town aren't there to loot or gawk. Keep up the good work, fellas!
I've posted some pictures here. None of them are really very different from what you've seen in the news. They do not really paint a picture of what has happened here. The smiles; the laughter; the hugs; the debris; the disaster and the chaos at the "command center" tell more about the spirit of this community and Iowans in general than any photo ever will.
At the command center, where all emergency personnel are stationed, there are police and fire officials from nearly every town and county in the state. They all seemed to know what was going on, but to the outsider it looked pretty hectic and chaotic.
In every yard, barely visible among the debris were the people who call this community home. They were talking to their neighbors and friends. Sifting through the remnants in hope of finding just one treasure to remind them of what they had and to offer hope of what they'll have as they rebuild their homes and their lives.
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