Storm Damage

Apparently The Daughter didn't think we would want to know last night when it all happened.

The usual Friday morning training ride was much longer and faster today because many businesses and most all schools, are closed today for Good Friday. The group was rolling pretty fast most of the way today, and when we got to the usual turnaround, most of the guys decided to continue on another five miles or so to "the dip." When I finally got home I fired up the computer to check my email and the first thing that came up was the "Daily Iowan" with a headline about tornados having wiped out a lot of Iowa City. I called The Daughter, but of course didn't get an answer. Finally, she called back. Last night around 8:30 or so, just as she was walking into the Rec Center to work out, the tornado warning sirens went off. Everyone in the Rec Center was herded into the locker rooms where they were to stay for the next couple of hours as at least one tornado ripped through Iowa City. She was pissed off that they wouldn't let them work out while they were there. Luckily, nobody in area around the university was badly injured, which was really quite amazing considering the damage. A number of frat and sorority houses were heavily damaged and the big old church that we have occasionally attended had most of the roof ripped off and one wall collapsed. There were about 80 people in the church at the time, but they had all taken shelter in the basement when the sirens went off. Flashbacks from The Wizard of Oz. The Daughter's house was spared any damage, luckily, but it was damned close! There are some amazing photos of the storm damage in the local newspaper website. Hurricanes, tornados, floods - it's been an interesting year. The Daughter's coach sent out the following email this morning:

Hello Everyone,
Just wanted to update all of you in case any of you saw the damage we sustained last night. Last night, Iowa City was hit by three consecutive tornadoes somewhere between the hours of 8:20pm and 10:00pm. The first in many years that have even come close to Iowa City. Fortunately for us, all of the girls are fine (thank God for cell phones!) and it seems other than being a little frightened, we are all ok. The campus has sustained quite a bit of damage across the river. Iowa has cancelled class today in order to clean up the debris that is blocking the roads. It seems that at least one of the three tornadoes was an F3 and we feel very lucky that none of us were in harm's way. All of the girls were extremely responsible and stayed in
basements, bathtubs, under tables wherever they could and checked in with me to make sure we had all been accounted for. It was a crazy ordeal to say the least but we wanted you to know that the sun is shining again and we are all fine! It will be a while before the campus returns to normal but never fear, the Field house is still standing strong!!!! Please call if you have questions or concerns. Have a great day!

Larissa

Meanwhile, way down here in the crescent city, the weather is great. We could use a little rain, but otherwise the morning temperatures have been in the low 60s with highs around 80. I'll probably do the Giro ride tomorrow, and today I have a lot of errands on my to-do list. Maybe I'll actually do one or two of them.