The National Weather Service ranked the storm "F5", the highest designation given. Over 350 homes were destroyed. The town's high school will never be used again; all city records have vanished. Winds reached 205 miles per hour. At least 50 people were injured; 7 have died. The town's football players were put to work digging graves.
I was at a wedding reception at a country club in Dubuque, IA, 120 miles from Parkersburg, 6 miles closer than the furthest flung debris, when the storm struck. The DJ interrupted the bride and groom's first dance to tell us that a tornado was approaching. We spent the next hour in the country club's basement. I passed the time learning how to juggle golf balls. Like the rest of the night, that too was a disaster.
The local response has been incredible. The town’s makeshift emergency shelter went unused; every Parkersburg resident was taken in by others from nearby towns. Local businesses and churches, the Red Cross, and the Salvation Army have mobilized relief efforts.
The disaster spawned not one, not two, but five facebook groups, with almost 10,000 members among them. The pictures they've posted are amazing (weather image photo credit: S. Lincoln).
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