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cisselt posted on April 21, 2011 14:15
| Story and photos by Katherine Dow |
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On April 16, five minutes before her parents became seriously concerned about a tornado headed toward their home in Raleigh, N.C., seven-year-old Bella wrote on her chalkboard, “PleaSe god let us be SaFe!” Then, she knelt and prayed. Octavio and Tanya Flores thought their daughter’s behavior was cute; Bella tended to be a little over-dramatic.
The TV and radio were on, and brownies were baked for a 4 p.m. neighborhood pig-picking. After the TV screen in the downstairs family room went black and the radio announced that their area should take cover, the Flores’ looked outside to see “a wall of water” coming toward them. Their parents grabbed Bella and her baby brother, Alex, and took cover in a closet beneath the stairs. Doors to the closet and to the house were open, and with both children screaming they watched a tree fly by before Octavio closed the door.
“There was no train whistle sound, just loud winds and SLAPPING, POPPING, huge-rock-on-concrete sounding noises,” he said, “And, the house shook.”
According to Octavio, it was over in 30 seconds. The house was dark from tree branches covering the windows. Immediately, he went out to put a tarp over a large hole as rain poured in where a tree had struck the roof. All 20 trees in the yard had fallen, he said. |
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“The experience was surreal and demoralizing,” Tanya said, “It was shocking to see trees down everywhere and shards sticking out of the ground.” She feels emotional about their yard and goes back and forth like a “yo-yo.” “Sometimes I see it as an opportunity to rebuild, and other times I am over whelmed,” she said. As devastating as they are, sometimes good can come out of a disaster. Tanya said that before the tornado she had not seen her neighbors often. But, now, they are checking on each other every two hours. On the night after the storm the neighborhood had looters.
Tanya had been told that unfortunate experiences bring both demons and angels. “The demons are looters and people who drive by slowly with video cameras. And, the angels are old friends you hadn’t seen for a long time and random strangers who want to help … and the Red Cross.” |
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Seeing the Red Cross truck on her street the first time was emotional for Tanya. She relates the Red Cross symbol to disasters, but it took seeing it twice for her to realize she was in a disaster. “Red Cross meals from the truck may seem like a small thing,” Tanya said, “but, they are a meal you don’t have to prepare for your family when there are so many other things to do.” Also, smiles and kindness that come with the food have helped her feel more normal in a surreal world. “It makes me think that we should be more involved and volunteer for the Red Cross,” she said.
After things had quieted, the Flores went into their family room and saw Bella’s words on the chalk board. “It’s hard to know when to take weather reports seriously,” Tanya said, “A child in Bella’s school died in the tornado.”
“We are all alive,” she said, “We’re fine.” |
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