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After wading through the
volumes for a half an hour –
featuring modern genre writers
as well as classics from Faulkner,
Fitzgerald and Hemingway – I
asked to see a librarian to talk
about the city, the tornado and
the aftermath.
Along with being a librarian
at the Morrison and Mary Wiley
Library, Michelle Armbruster
is a lifelong Elmwood resident.
She said the weekend when the
tornadoes struck was an exciting
one: it was the weekend of the
annual Strawberry Festival,
which the city has been hosting
for 23 years. When they heard the
storm was on its way Michelle
and her family did what they
always do during “tornado
season”: they went to their
basement for protection. After
the storm passed and the family
returned upstairs, they knew
something serious had happened
as part of their roof was heavily
damaged. They left their home,
which is only two blocks from
the city’s Central Park, and
began walking to the center of
town. Devastation greeted them
every step of the way, along with
neighbors who had weathered
the storm (again, not one person
was killed).
“For two blocks all we saw
were bricks and tree limbs and
glass,” said Michelle. Talking
about that night now, a year and
a half later, still brings strong
emotions to the surface. “We
were stopping and hugging
neighbors, just so happy to see
that everyone was okay.”
Obviously, not the same could
be said for many buildings in the
city. After passing through the
park, Michelle proceeded to the
library quite worried – and for
good reason. The façade consists
of two stories of gleaming
glass windows that bath the
library with a warm light. Those
windows were on Michelle’s
mind too.
“With all those windows,
who knew how much damage
there would be,” said Michelle.
Luckily, the windows were
unscathed. Michelle was
shocked. It turned out an upper
window in the building had been
accidentally left slightly open.
This, Michelle was told, was the
probably the reason the windows
remained intact.
After seeing that the library
exterior was in good shape,
Michelle continued a couple
blocks further to her father’s
home (the home she grew up
in). He was safe and the home
undamaged.
After the tornadoes damaged
the park and destroyed several
neighboring buildings, including
city hall, the next day the county
requested to use the library as
headquarters for the clean-up
efforts. When Michelle opened
the library and entered for the
first time she realized it hadn’t
escaped the tornado’s wrath
completely. Part of the roof was
damaged, allowing water to
seep into the library. But again,
Michelle was able to breathe a
sigh of relief: only one book was
damaged (and on the drive home,
I was kicking myself for not
asking what that book title was).
Since then the library and
much of the town is back to
normal and even better than
before. The library roof was
repaired and new flooring was
installed. It also was re-plastered
The Future
36
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