Nancy Biggs

It is accurate, written by a local businessman in the weeks following the tornado My mother watched the funnel come from Pleasant Hill toward the main street of the town, then turn before it hit the church where the closing activities of Vacation Bible School were being held. Remember, as you read it, that there were no chainsaws to clear the roads, no 911 response teams, no ambulances, no cell phones to know if your relatives were dead or alive. But the response of the community, the ability of local quick responses, from the pharmacies that provided first aid supplies, the mine rescue teams, the multiple interwoven support activities sprung up overnight. Literally overnight. Read, and also keep in mind that those of us who lived through that evening are ever and always on edge when the birds quit singing, the air is heavy and still, and the wind begins to blow.