Un-Natural Disaster
August 30, 2011
Returning from summer vacation this year I was struck by the fickleness of what are so-called “natural disasters.” Some of you have already heard that the Sullivans were camping at Point Farms Provincial Park when the tornado blew through Goderich, ON. That was only a small part of the story!
We had gotten up early that morning as a change to our normal routine to attend worship at the early service at Knox, Goderich. We had hoped the Kintail staff would be there following the week of VBS they’d offered to the children. These hopes were not fulfilled, but we did attend a very fine worship service in the Lower Hall. This allowed us to get what we needed done in town before heading back to the campgrounds for lunch and what we hoped would be an afternoon on the beach.
If we had followed our original plan, we would have stayed after the 11:00 service and had lunch downtown, followed by our annual visit to the flea market which gathers around the courthouse. Doubtless many of you have seen the major devastation that took place, primarily around the centre of Goderich focused on the courthouse square. What causes you to change your plans? What entices you to drive back to the campsite? My dog, Tanis, a 13 year old Labrador Retriever is deathly afraid of thunder storms, did something tweak us that we couldn’t leave him alone?
In his mercy, God looks after us… we arrived at the campsite and the rain began to beat down. We managed to secure our site just before the hail started to pound the roof of our tent trailer so hard it sounded like the staccato of drums (check out the picture). We had no idea how powerful the storm would be or the damage that the nearby town would sustain. In BenMiller the campgrounds were pummelled by winds and trailers were destroyed!
Afterwards we saw some of the devastation, the United Church on Victoria St. a mere block from Knox had its roof torn off and much of the south wall demolished! Our own architect Allan Avis’ newly renovated building (see picture) was completely gutted as the roof and wall structures were ripped apart. In the end one innocent life was lost amidst all this violence… for this loss of life we are truly sorry, yet unbelievably grateful.
Twelve seconds of fury! That’s all it took for the destruction of so much… in the face of such awesome power it is overwhelming…
Later we spoke to people in the campground; some had actually been on the beach in Goderich when the Tornado struck! Some had family living in the town and they were unable to settle after speaking with them about the damage. One was a pastor’s wife who was just trying to have some quiet time with her children and now she feared what they would encounter when they returned to their home. For us, it was a close call, one that seemed surreal, when the rangers posted warnings on Wednesday morning about another possible tornado; well that was enough. We’d had enough excitement for one vacation. I think we made record time in packing our gear and heading home. If you’re going to have to deal with disaster I think you want to be surrounded by your own people.
I hope and pray for the good people of Goderich that they have the strength and resources to deal with the damage. But I’m also grateful to God that we escaped, and that I’m so aware of the community that means so much to me that I just want to be home.
God bless,
Pastor Howard
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