It is spring again, the trees are budding and the flowers are blooming in Bronson Park. People are outside enjoying the warmer weather. I wonder how many of those people remember what happened almost 30 years ago when a tornado came right through the heart of downtown Kalamazoo.
I remember that day very well. I was a student at St. Augustine School then, just finishing the eighth grade. Everyone at school was looking forward to summer vacation. Little did we know we'd be getting an early start on the summer.
The timing of the storm couldn't have been more eerie-just about an hour after school had let out for the day. I am sure, based on what happened to the buildings, that there would have been more fatalities than there actually were had the tornado come earlier.
When I saw the photos in the paper the day after the storm, I was amazed at just how much damage there was. The school was totally destroyed — later that year they had to demolish what was left of the building. The cathedral suffered major damage, there were lots of boarded up stained-glass windows, and it was generally a mess.
The rest of downtown was the same way — windows broken, trees uprooted, debris everywhere. I can remember volunteering for the Red Cross a few weeks after the tornado, putting up signs that told where the disaster aid center had been set up. Walking around and seeing the damage up close was a sign I'll never forget. Pictures in the paper and news footage on TV are one thing, but seeing the damage in person really made me realize just how lucky we were.
To this day, whenever they start talking about severe weather on TV, I get nervous. I wonder if we'll experience another tornado like the one that hit on May 13, 1980. I hope not — that's one experience I don't want to repeat
Amy Mesara resides in Kalamazoo.