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Four miles south of Henryville. Drew LaMaster
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At this time one year ago, I was sitting in my apartment looking
over data for the next day. When the clock hit Midnight, everyone was waiting
for the Storm Predication Center to put out its update forecast for Day 1. When
I saw that no High Risk was put out this update, I had this feeling that we
would in the morning. And I was right. I woke up a little after 7AM, went to my
computer, pulled up radar, and the SPC website. A High Risk had been put out
for most of the Louisville area and I just knew that we would see something
that day that many of us have not seen since the Super Outbreak of 1974. Shortly after 8AM, severe thunderstorms in
Central Illinois were already towering at over 40,000 feet. That is when I
really did know we were going to be in for a long day. The first tornado watch
of the day came in right when my 9AM class was getting out. One hour later, the
SPC had upgraded the Tri-State to a High Risk of severe weather. Since I was
away from radar for a long time, I didn’t know how bad the damage was until the
first reports started to come in. When I got home that, that is when I saw it
firsthand. WTHR-TV in Indianapolis was showing the small town of Henryville,
located in Clark County, looking like a war zone. I remember when I was looking
at my Twitter account earlier that day, I saw the words “TORNADO EMERGENCY FOR
NORTHERN CLARK COUNTY.” I knew this had to be a monster, but I really did not
know how much of monster this was. That day, everything changed for me. I knew
that people really could care less what your Doppler is named or who has the
best technology: All they care about is their safety. People do not want hype and they do not want
spin. It’s hard for me to watch the videos of that day, because you know when
it happens in a place that you love, you really can’t watch it the same way
other people can.
The pictures and names of people I saw and heard have never
left me. The school bus that had just returned back to the school just seconds
before the tornado hit, in the building across the street from Henryville Jr.-Sr.
High School. The high school gym being torn apart like a bomb just hit it.
Stephanie Decker, the mother who risked her life by putting herself on top of
her children while at the same time losing both of her feet. The number of
people who came together for this small Indiana town was something that reminds
me how proud I am to live in this state and this nation. Sometimes it takes the
worst events to happen to bring the good out of people. When Lady Antebellum announced
that they would sing at school prom, the number of schools from across the
nation that came together in support of Henryville was like something out of a
movie. The one I did see that I cannot watch without crying is when the
students of Harrisburg High School, a town hit just two days before Henryville,
told Lady A to play for Henryville instead. I now sit here in my apartment at
the table I work from. The town is rebuilt, the school is back to normal,
Stephanie Decker is now able to walk again, but the town and the people are not
the same. That day we lost 11 people in state. The death toll from that day
nationwide stands at 40. We have since learned from that day what to do and
what not to do during severe weather. But I think we learned more from this
small Indiana town. If anything, this town taught us about life. The days will
grow, people will get older, and one day, people will only read about
Henryville and know it for a test in his or her Indiana History class. But
until the day when the good Lord above calls me home, I will never forget this
town. They will always be in my heart. Thank you, good night, God bless to you
and yours, God bless Indiana, and God bless Henryville.
