One month. That’s how long it’s been since the sky opened up on that final 30 minutes of Easter Sunday and a funnel cloud seemingly engineered in Hades dropped down to leave much of East Brainerd in a state of postapocalyptic ruin.
Hard as it may be to believe, four weeks have come and gone since Susan Farley cracked opened the door of her family’s safe room a few seconds after the tornado slammed into their Autumn Chase home and thought, “Everything I’ve ever had is lost.”
Four weeks have passed since Tyner Academy principal Gerald Harris emerged from the crawl space beneath his family’s severely damaged Drake Forest home to find the neighborhood’s numerous large trees “all but gone. Just vanished. And trees were what always made this neighborhood feel special.”
Four weeks are in the books since Girls Preparatory School swimming coach Roger Dahlke said of son Christian Mahanes’ quick thinking to awaken the family and get them to a windowless room just as the tornado demolished their Autumn Chase home, “If it hadn’t been for Christian, we’d have all been dead.”
On a lighter note, Farley said on Friday, her observation surely seconded by the Harrises and the Dahlkes, “If I never see another piece of pink insulation, it will be too soon.”