Harveyville Tornado

I grew up in the town of Harveyville until I was 13.  At the time it had a grocery store, gas station, library, post office, tire shop, fire department, grain elevator, feed store, barber shop, 2 churches, and an Elementary/Jr. High School.  The same elementary school my Dad attended.  It has since closed.  Last night the town was devastated by a F2 tornado destroying half the homes in what is left of the small town.  The only businesses left as small towns are shrinking are the Fire Department, Grocery store (now only has necessities), the post office, grain elevator (now just a feed store).  The elementary school has been closed for over 10 years.  None of the above businesses were hit directly.  The church I went to as a little girl has been flattened.  My heart aches for the families who lost so much including the life of a childhood friend of my fathers.  I remember running through their house as a child playing with their little boys while our mom's talked in the kitchen and our dad's were in the garage.  I went on my 1st pheasant hunt with Rick to western Kansas when I was just old enough to carry a shotgun.  He'll be greatly missed.



The Church I went to as a little girl




Cars and trucks were smashed like pop cans





A pregnant mother and child took cover in this bath tub with a mattress over them and survived to tell about it.