Photo taken 3.June.1980, Grand Island, Nebraska
3.June.1980 - Grand Island, Nebraska. At approximately 8:45pm CST the first of seven tornados touched down in this small town. 3-F1's, 1-F2, 2-F3's and 1-F4 ripped into Grand Island and left $260 million dollars of damage behind. The National Guard enforced an 8pm to 6am curfew to contain the looters and sightseers. 150 square blocks of the city was affected by this terrible storm. Hundreds left with nothing to return to. Homes demolished, businesses flattened. Thankfully only 5 died.
If you visit Grand Island, Nebraska you may pass Ryder Park and notice standing out from the flatlands a large hill...Tornado Hill as it's known.
See at that time the landfill was overused and they had no place to dump the debris left by the storm. So they took the broken homes, shattered businesses and all the other debris and burned them. After burning all the debris, they placed the ashes into a small depression that eventually grew larger as they added more dirt and ash. Soon it became a large hill standing out from the flatlands.
In that hill are ashes that used to be peoples lives.
Homes.
Personal artifacts.
Memories.
All are now ashes buried in the ground.
Yet from the ashes comes life. If you were to drive by Tornado Hill @ Ryder Park, you couldn't tell that this hill represented the worst storm in Nebraska state history. You couldn't see the ash from the burned debris buried underneath this mammoth hill. Instead you will notice Ryder Park - a place where children play, laugh and live. A place where the winter snow brings sleds, snowboards and (of course) inner tubes. A place High School athletes run up and down to boost strength and conditioning.
Perhaps in your life you've experienced a major storm. The winds of life have ripped every part of you apart. Your life is broken, dreams are shattered. All that's left are memories. Memories of what used to be...of what could have been.
There's still hope, but you have to trust God on this. Burn the memories and bury the past. As hard as it is, dwelling on the "used to be's" and "could have been's" will stunt any growth in your life. The only way to rebuild your broken life is to remove the debris, burn them, bury them and let life once again spring forth.
Tornado Hill is a reminder that life can once again spring forth from the ashes...
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