Cyclone on Nebraska Ground

A month ago, Nebraska territory was heavily damaged from a cyclone. Before the cyclone, I didn’t know what a cyclone meant until the storm began.

Even the weatherman, on NTV news, would talk about the potential and risks of the storm.

All I remember is how hard it was to walk home from my night class because of how windy and rainy it was. It was hard to walk because I am a petite little girl trying to walk home against the wind.

For someone who hasn’t worked out in a hot minute, it sure felt like one.

Not only that, but I was walking blind. I took off my glasses because I hate seeing raindrops on my lenses blocking my eyesight. Eventually, I got home and check my emails hoping for last minute cancellations.

My college ended up cancelling classes for the next day.

Later that night, the weather worsened as I looked out of my bedroom window.

The steady cold wind and rain would become one with the snow. It looked as if the rain and wind was as wild as a bear while the snow was as soft as a pillow.

Even though the weather was almost at the top of its peak, it would still continue on for the rest of the night. The moment I woke up from my slumber, I would observe the weather from my bedroom window.

No sign of the weather letting up anytime soon. Since I had a free day, I worked on my homework, stopping for breaks midway to check on the weather.

Once I finished my homework for the day, I began to look through my social media.

On Facebook, family members and friends would post pictures and their stories of the cyclone all over their social media about the aftermath.

Unfortunately, it caused many city emergencies because of major flooding, high winds, and even the killing of our livestock.

Major water sources were already high as they continued to drain away last fall’s abundant rain. As runoff washed off frozen ground, it lifted the ice sheets up, broke them into huge slabs that banged downstream and eventually clogged together in ice jams, some several miles long.

Multiple states were affected.

So, I decided, about a few days later, to go to my hometown of Gibbon with my sister. We saw in the news about the town of Gibbon and the level of tragedies the cyclone made an impact on this town.

There was water the lead into areas of houses including the basement, the lawn, and even a gas station parking lot was invisible because of the water.

The whole community got together to put an end of the flooding by cleaning up the filth of the streets and drain out the water left within the houses.

Several people within the community went from house to house bringing over fans, dehumidifiers, heaters, water, cleaning supplies and even food. Even the fire department and auxiliary brought over some more supplies.

Everyone within the community became generous, not only with their money, but most importantly with their time and effort.

Despite the generosity of the whole Gibbon community, one thing I just cannot stop thinking about was the heartbreaking looks on familiar faces.

Families suffered because Nebraska wasn’t prepared for this. I may not have been affected like other people within other parts of Nebraska, but I know one thing for sure: we will not forget what happened.

We will be prepared for the next one.

If you would like to see more, follow me on Twitter @AmandaH23942284.