On Thursday ( April 9th, 2015) a strong line of storms ripped thru the Midwest bringing in a very powerful entrance to the storm season. Of the many communities hit with a complete life changing moment was that of folks living in Rochelle, IL.
Located a few miles away, Davis Junction was also rumored to have taken a hit. Initially I had confused towns which later I found today by driving to the town and finding I was thinking of " Davis, IL". I was able to jog over from Davis into the Rochelle area and while fact remains I have in fact been to Rochelle; I sadly never really took much of a look at it.
My initial thinking was also Rochelle was a large city... turns out it was a small little village like town made of a few businesses and homes. None the less; the town size does not lessen the inpact of the tornado that went thru on Thursday and leveled 90% of the town. As the snippet above shows.. the storm took 2 lives and was rated as a EF4... much like using a leaf blower to dust off an end table.
Below are some photos from my trip to Rochelle, IL. You might ask why I would travel over 2 hours to a town that has been leveled. The answer is possibly one most don't think about or would laugh at; but honestly... because I wanted to see this town. There is a very real reality check seeing the true power of nature and that is true be it watching a tornado in person from a safe distance, seeing it's aftermath, or even on a less destructive form as watching rain fill a river. We are simply a part of the landscape nature paints in and at times... Nature changed her mind on how something looks... or wishes to create a change. We are everyday expanding our presence into nature and with that comes a very real cost of creating our world in the path of Nature's whims and decided changes.
I also feel that as we grow and "progress" in society.. we are becoming further in tune with the idea of ownership and material need. We are always getting and some are not finding appreciation of the things we get or just don't plan on ever losing things and so we take it for granted. I'm just as guilty...
These events take from people; usually those who are very much at the edge of society as they work to the bone for what they have and even then... get used to having basics like a home and seeing the environment on a daily look as the same every day. Victims of a tornado have a 2-10 minute rush of panic and fear... in the end... they walk out to find the very comfort they subconsciously expect and take for granted gone... They find they can see at times past what should be blocks of homes... basically looking out on a flat land of rubble.
That feeling and realization is chilling to me... I cannot ever imagine having that moment in my life and pray it never happens. However I find that very feeling could also be a valuable snap to reality of life... and visiting such a place where people are confronted with these feelings and events... is much like a second-hand lesson. If you take a true day to walk and witness the people effected and feel the sadness and shock.. see the kind of damage created by what is literally just a grinding wheel of wind.
When you stand in a war-zone of nature and human life... you are easily reset in your mind and soul of just how quickly simple things like home and clothes and a surrounded town can be ripped away. If you cannot feel that or feel no sadness.. your soul has long since darkened and you are most likely in need of serious guidance.
Without to much more talk and lip flapping; the images I took in Rochelle, IL.
