Last night Manhattan was hit with it's first tornado in 62 years. I am glad to report that everyone is safe, but the damage to the houses in the Miller's Ranch area of the city was amazing. In an effort to help this victims of this disaster, our Head Coach, Ron Prince, got our entire organization together, players included, and had us all help in the clean up at Miller's Ranch.
On our way from the football complex to the affected neighborhood, we saw the first signs of the disater. A True Value hardware shop that Jen and I shop at was completely destroyed. Nothing was left.
As we made our way up to the neighborhood, fallen trees were everywhere. Cars were destroyed; 2x4 were lodged in the sides of houses and roofs were destroyed. We could not believe our eyes, but it only got worse.
The next neighborhood is where the main part of the tornado hit. Houses were completely destroyed and cars were flipped upside down. In one area, a man's 2007 Honda was in his neighbor's yard...upside down...across the street. This is the neighborhood where our team did most of our work.
Though extremely depressing to watch as people rumaged though what was left of their lives, all I could think was that it was a miracle that no one was killed. To see the devastation and to know that no one was seriously hurt was mind boggling.
It was also amazing to see the community spirit at work. Everyone was chipping in, and the victims were genuinely thankful and at times up beat. I think it gave our players, and coaches, a new perspective on the important things in life (family, friendship, caring, etc.).
Though the day was hard work, it felt good to accomplish something and to have a chance to help people in need while also teaching our players a life lesson.
The Tornado also hit the K-State campus. Pictures can be found on the link below.
http://www.found.ksu.edu/tornado_relief_album/index.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xH5cWky6KSs&feature=related
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