the Aftermath of Mother Nature

Last night there were tornado warnings throughout Athens County. After the "warnings" were over, my uncle and I went to The Plains to document the damage. All my life I've never had to deal with an actual tornado nor have I experienced the aftermath of its power.
It's always been warnings, or it was small and far away and it does little to no damage. But when I got there I saw exactly what Mother Nature can do. Trailers were flipped and flattened. Trees were torn from the ground and debris was scattered everywhere. It was dark and the night was filled with the color of sirens and nothing else. People were wondering around, looking at what was left of their homes - now a wasteland of wood, metal and scattered possessions left behind in the wake of a short, but unexpectedly violent storm. It was dark and there was very little light, but this is what we found:


Someone walked past us with a lantern, walking towards the town, going to lend a hand to help.


what's left of McDonald road.




Firefighters ascending the hill to the Athens Highschool.


The force of the storm left the bleachers of the Athens High School upside-down. Just before the storm hit, the soccer team was suppose to play their rivals from Alexander High School. But the sudden storm ripped through, forcing everyone to evacuate. The press box and goals were blown away. The flag poles were bent.


After seeing everything we could, we decided to leave. It was odd though, how something so destructive just wiped through, violent and relentless, and then like that, the skies were clear and the stars shined above - indifferent to all the people who had just lost everything. As I got back to Athens I noticed girls with heels walking down Court Street, and houses filled with people and music. Life goes on, I suppose. But for me the scene was a little hard to swallow. I couldn't believe they could party after what just happened, but they didn't know.