Bob_Moore's Blog

During my weathercast on Sunday morning Wakeup -- I reported more than 90 tornados Saturday ravaged the nation's midsection.  More than 90 tornodos.

At the editorial meeting, the obvious question -- in recent memory when was Wisconsin worst tornado.   Oakfield immediately grabbed the conference call -- and I was sent to the Fond du Lac County community to see what people remembered.   To get an idea from the Oakfield survivors, what hundreds of people are going through in Kansas and other tornado-hit communities.

One thing I discovered were raw emotions -- 11 years after the fact.  A mother breaking down in tears because she was at work when the twister hit and her husband and two kids at home.   Literally, for hours not knowing about their safety and the condition of their home.  It was destroyed.

The there's the remarkable story of the Oakfield United Methodist Church.  The tornado leveled the historic building -- replacement tab -- one million dollars.   The great part of this story is that work of the rare F-5 tornado become national news.   Winds in excess of 260 miles per hour caused 40 million dollars in damage -- with no deaths only 17 injuries.

Within weeks $900,000 in donations came from around the world to help the church rebuild.  The congregation took out a $100,000 loan for the balance to cover the remaining damage.   Just three weeks ago the small congregation burned the mortgage.

The message I took away from Oakfield Sunday is that life goes on no matter how devastating the initial blow from mother nature.  They even tell me the community is growing -- it seems other people have discovered the charm of the small village.

If you have stories about the July 18th, 1996 Oakfield tornado -- share them with our blog community.

As always, many thanks,

RAM