Missing the storm in Storm Lake

Mary and I missed last Friday’s straight-line wind storm that caused considerable damage in Storm Lake. We were on our way to our daughter and son-in-law’s home in northwest Indiana for Easter. But we were able to follow the story on the Times Pilot website, stormlake.com.

Thank God no one was killed or injured.

We returned home Monday evening and were amazed at how quickly the community had recovered. Hats off to the city crews and MidAmerican Energy for bringing things back to relative normal so quickly. Our neighbors kindly cleaned up our yard of sticks and limbs while we were gone.

We suffered minimal damage at home and our Times Square office. At home, we lost an arbor vita that was already damaged from the blizzard a few weeks ago. We called Jerry Kahl to put that poor evergreen out of its misery.

While the Buena Vista County Historical Museum across the street from our office suffered substantial roof damage, we lucked out at the Times Pilot, where the only casualty was a windbreak at the front entrance. It provided us good service over the past 33 years, keeping north winds from piling up snow in front of the door.

The storm harkened back to my days on the staff of the Algona newspapers, where on June 28, 1979, I photographed a tornado that ravaged the town. My shot was heard round the world, after the Associate Press picked it up and distributed it to newspapers around the globe. In those days it was rare to photograph a tornado. Nowadays, with storm chasers and cellphones everywhere, it’s common to see twisters captured by anyone brave — or stupid — enough to risk their lives.

While people escaped harm during Storm Lake’s tornado-like windstorm, Algona was not so fortunate. Semi trucks were flipped upside down and 34 people in town were injured — in addition to two who died — and more than 120 homes were destroyed. The downtown was spared and, in a remarkable spirit of resiliency, the community celebrated Algona’s long-planned 125th anniversary a few days later with a parade down State Street.

That was the same night that another tornado ripped through Manson, destroying much of our Calhoun County neighbor’s downtown.

I never tire of regaling people with my meteorological adventure. It was my 15 minutes of fame journalistically. I’ve re-run that picture just about every year since with this column, usually around the anniversary of the event. I figured this week would be a good time. Mark Prosser, retired Storm Lake public safety director, always enjoyed seeing this photo, so I dedicate it to him this year.

Even though we just endured a nasty weather event, we are now entering the severe weather portion of the year. May and June are the biggest months for tornadoes. Pay attention to weather warnings on TV and tornado sirens around town.