Tornadoes bring destruction and pain that few can fathom

Even those of us in the Mahon- ing and Shenango valleys who saw first hand the full fury of a tornado a quarter of a century ago have a difficult time comprehending the scope of the destruction in the southern United States today.

The scenes of homes turned into kindling, of personal effects and photo albums that represented the memories of a lifetime strewn to the winds bring back memories.

The realization that loved ones spanning generations — from infants to elders — are gone forever hits hard. The knowledge that thousands of others are injured in body and spirit casts a pall over the day.

The May 31, 1985, tornadoes that provide our most personal frame of reference began in Newton Falls and killed 88 people in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Ontario, Canada, over a six-hour span.

At this writing, the death toll approaches 300 from the storms that swept across Alabama, Tennessee, Virginia, Mississippi, Georgia and Kentucky beginning Wednesday.

One tornado in 1,000 reaches the highest rating, F5; that was seen both here in 1985 and this week in the South. And one thing is sure: When a tornado of that magnitude sweeps through a populated area with internal speeds of 250 mph, people die. Even with today’s more sophisticated warning systems, everyone isn’t going to be safe.

Sometimes, there appears to be no rhyme or reason to the patterns of destruction. Jerry Stewart, a 63-year-old retired firefighter in a Birmingham suburb told an Associated Press reporter that he and his wife, along with their daughter and two grandchildren, survived by hiding under their front porch. Friends down the street did the same, but their house was ripped off its foundation, and they were killed.

Stewart’s grandchildren will remember that for the rest of their lives, joining countless others who must live with the memories of the havoc tornadoes create.

Help is on the way

One other thing almost every American learns in the wake of a tornado is the lesson of man’s humanity toward man. State, federal and private rescue crews stream into the area. Red Cross and Salvation Army vehicles come from far and near, along with utility company trucks and crews of professionals and volunteers from cities the local folks may never have heard of. They will join the search for survivors, provide staff for shelters and food lines and do whatever they can to help restore a sense of normalcy.

And while state and federal workers go through the necessary paperwork to get long-term reconstruction under way, donations from hundreds of thousand of people across the nation will be providing necessary support today.

Most of those people will be helping out of sympathy, but many, including those from places like Newton Falls, Niles, Wheatland, Pa., and Jamestown, Pa., will be doing so out of empathy. They’ve been there, they suffered through the pain, and they found the courage to rebuild and embrace the new day ahead.

For anyone wanting to help, it’s not difficult to find organizations and churches that are accepting donations and that can be trusted to use the money wisely — starting with the national brands such as the Red Cross and Salvation Army.