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My co-worker
and I were on our way home from work. We had just gone through
a very intense rain and hail storm but were unaware of the
approaching tornado. We had just crossed 69th street, heading
west on Western Avenue when I notice, what I thought were
blackbirds, flying around in front of us. I then realized
it was debris. I looked to my left and saw a mass of black
coming at us. My coworker immediately dove to the floor of
the truck. At that moment it seemed to be the safest thing
to do. I laid on top of him. Then, an instant later, I didn't
feel as if that was going to offer me enough protection and
I abandoned the truck.
My coworker survived, however was pinned in
the cab of the truck because a large tree branch pierced through
the back of the truck, continuing into the dashboard, scathing
his back. I would have been impaled. Of course, I found this
out later.
After I jumped from the truck, I ran north
to a house just adjacent to us which were approximately three
houses east of 72nd Street. I was looking for a deep window
well to climb into. Older houses have deep window wells. Four
houses down from me was an old house and I ran towards it.
Just before I got to the third house down, I was picked up
and whirred around in the air. Debris pelted my body as I
slammed and bounced off of things. At one point, as I was
flying through the air, I saw I was heading toward a chain-linked
fence. I just knew I was going to be cut up in to little diamonds.
I ended up passing over it. I slammed against something and
fell to the ground. I opened my eyes to find myself next to
a house. I decided to duck down behind the basement wall and
cement porch steps. As I hung onto the edge of the small window
well, the wind roared as if I was standing next to a jet engine.
A tree branch fell on me, knocking the wind out of me. The
roar of the wind increased and suddenly, the tree branch blew
away. My legs began lifting off the ground, pulling and vibrating.
I was sure I was goner. Like a jet taking off at full throttle,
all hell broke lose. I could hear only the intense wind.
Suddenly, the wind stopped and for a few seconds,
there was no sound. I raised my head up and saw only the bare
floors of the house I was holding onto. I stood up but immediately
fell down. There was a small branch sticking out of my leg.
I removed it and I started home, to 75th & Grant, not
knowing if I still had a home. Then, I heard cries of children
coming from the basement of the house next to the one I had
been. I looked in a broken basement window and saw a mattress
leaning against a wall with two children and their mother
behind it. Not knowing that my leg was broken, but very much
in pain, I broke the rest of window and lowered myself inside.
I cleared the stairway and saw nothing but a bunk bed, fully
made, covered with debris. Next to them was a closet full
of clothes. Nothing else was standing.
I continued home while people asked me if
I needed help. When I finally made it home, I was relieved
to see that our house was untouched. But, there was debris,
pictures, and papers from miles away, littering the yard.
My mom and three sons saw me coming and rushed to help. I
was covered with a smelly green sludge, a mixture of everything
swirled and mulched in the winds. I took a shower and that's
when I saw puncture wounds, abrasions and bruises all over
my body. I decided to go to the hospital where they cleaned
my sores and took an X-ray of my leg. The leg had been broken
but now was set, maybe when I removed my boots. The doctor
couldn't put a cast on because I had no skin from my left
arm pit to where the top my boot had been. For over six months
afterwards, I removed pieces of glass, grass, slivers of wood
and other debris from my body as it surfaced. Now, when the
sirens go off, I'm headed for shelter in my basement.
On the
lighter side, my mother had always told me, as I was growing
up, never to lose my lunchbox. Well, as it turns out, I had
my lunchbox with me through the entire event. But, I left
it at the house where I helped the two children and their
mother.
From Scott,
regarding being covered in a green sludge: I have heard others
describe it as a pungent smell of pine tar and diesel fuel.
My Aunt
Nona, Harry’s wife, said she had looked out the storm
window as the tornado passed within a few blocks of the house,
only to see a bulldozer-type tractor flying through the air.
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