2022/2023
Collection 18

The Jones Valley Twister

1989; Huntsville, Alabama, USA

Wednesday, November 15, 1989, was a day that citizens in Huntsville, Alabama, will never forget. That one Wednesday would impact my dad’s life forever. There were thunderstorms on the weather forecast, but no one was prepared for what was going to happen next.

Every Wednesday night, my grandpa would make dinner for their church, and that Wednesday my dad was helping him. The dinner was baking when tornado warnings came on the radio. My grandma, grandpa, dad, and uncle all went to the church basement, but my aunt was at dance lessons. My grandparents were so worried.

My family had been down in the basement for about thirty minutes when the radio announced for people in their area to find shelter and keep waiting. So they did — for another hour and a half.

After it was safe to come out of the basement, they started hearing about all the damage. My dad found out that his entire elementary school had been destroyed by the tornado. He was devastated. He was only in first grade! One of his favorite places in the world had been demolished. Since the tornado hit around 4:30 p.m., most people had already left the school, but aftercare was still in session. Amazingly, nobody at the school died, but one of my dad’s friend’s fingers had to be amputated, since a large piece of rubble had fallen on him.

When the storm calmed down, my aunt got a ride to the church, and my grandma drove my dad, aunt, and uncle by their house. It was perfectly fine, but there was no power. So my grandma drove everyone to my great-grandparents’ house to spend the night. Meanwhile, my grandpa took the food he and my dad had been making, and gave it to volunteers helping to clean up and save people from the debris.

Even though the storm lasted only thirty minutes, it was catastrophic! It was so serious that the army sent 700 soldiers to help with the cleanup, and the vice president’s wife came to Huntsville to look at the damage.

All of the students from Jones Valley Elementary had to take a bus to a different school while their school was rebuilt. A few weeks after the tornado, a news reporter came to that school, Challenger Elementary, and my dad was one of the students interviewed. He told the reporter how sad he was and how much he was going to miss Jones Valley. One and a half years later, my dad’s school was rebuilt. He got used to a new building (again) and loved being back.

This surprise attack took twenty-one lives, including the life of a seven-year-old. If you go to Huntsville, Alabama, today, you will see the names of those twenty-one people on a memorial for everyone who was hurt or injured. That day will be remembered for years to come.

Lyla Townsley; Missouri, USA

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