March 2, 2012 - Moscow, OH Tornado

March 18, 2012: [The following is a report by Stu Rayner, a HFI Reservist who lives in the Cincinnati area.] On the morning of March 4th, I headed to Moscow, Ohio, to see if I could help in the aftermath of an EF3 tornado, one of 7 that hit the state. As one of the largest in this storm series, the tornado measured 20 miles in length and a quarter-mile in width, with winds up to 160 mph. In comparison, Moscow is about ten blocks wide and sits on the Ohio River.

The police workers at the barricade waved me on when I arrived. I continued down the highway and was immediately struck by the all the downed trees going up the wooded hills to my left. On the right, a new gas station was flattened. Along the road were some 40 - 50 electric utility trucks working on all the downed lines.

I stopped at a house where part of the roof was gone, with many downed trees in the yard, but for the most part the house was in pretty good shape. I knocked on the door and Mary invited me in, while she finished her call to her homeowner's insurance company. Mary was visibly shaken. Once she hung up the phone, she told me how her hands couldn't stop shaking and how she kept forgetting everything. She was afraid she was going crazy.

I assured her she was reacting normally to a very abnormal situation. She said that her husband had driven off to one of their adult children's homes to fetch a generator (as there was no power in town). Just then the back door burst open and in walked her husband, two of their adult children, and their spouses. Mary's mood brightened considerably after the family's arrival. They then asked me to go up the street to a neighbor of theirs, as they had found her crying in her car, in the garage of her home.

Seeing that Mary was doing better, I headed up the street to her neighbor's house. The power company had spent the previous night clearing most of the fallen trees, but hadn't gotten to this house. I had to walk around and over a number of trees to get to the house, where Brenda was still in her garage. The roof of her house had been blown off and bricks were lying everywhere. She was alone and felt alone. Her husband had passed away the previous year and now she feared she would lose the home she had lived in for three decades.

The tornado had evidently moved the house slightly off its foundation. I felt prompted to ask Brenda if she had eaten or drank anything all day. She hadn't eaten anything, so I gave her some snack food and vowed to get her something more substantial to eat. She showed me what was left of her house and shared memories about her kids, and about how her house was the oldest brick house in town. Seeing that she was in better shape, I left.

I found a tailgating tent in the park, where a church in the area had set up a food distribution point. I got food for Brenda and headed back to her home. When I arrived, she immediately gave me a big hug and then sat down to eat. I told her I would be back later to check on her, and went to visit some others.

On Sunday, I returned to Brenda's house, where about ten people were working. Brenda gave me another hug. Her children had arrived and like Mary, Brenda looked much better with family around. She complained that her feet were cold and I remembered that I had a pair of insulated socks in my car. I gave them to her. She told me that volunteers had just shown up and startedcutting the fallen trees. She felt guilty that they were working on her property, when so many others needed help. I assured that they were being helped. She appeared to be satisfied with that answer and started singing while she collected the cut up wood.

I didn't realize until writing this article, how many things fell in place, as if ordained by God: Getting through the barricades the first day, finding food for Brenda, and even having a pair of socks for her. I was moved by God's grace. Many homes were flattened, yet only one person had died in town. People came in the coming days to help.

My last day in Moscow was a week after the storm. Nearly all the debris was gone. Bulldozers were plowing away the ruined homes and dump trucks waited in line to be filled. While being in the presence of so much sadness, I, too walked away filled. I know that God has put a passion for helping those in disaster on my heart, but it surprises me to find out how deeply touched I am by the people I meet. I sometimes am tempted to be prideful in going to serve, but often come home humbled and find I was most served.