Parkersburg collects items lost in storm

Font Size:

By The Associated Press | Sunday, August 17, 2008 10:10 PM CDT | () comments

Parkersburg Police Chief Chris Luhring set up a storage room where all the lost and found items, that were blown away by the May 25 tornado, are being held until they can be identified and returned in Parkersburg, Iowa on Thursday July 31, 2008. The mementos began arriving at City Hall a couple of days after a tornado destroyed nearly a third of the town, killed eight people and swept away items of daily life. (AP PHOTO)

   PARKERSBURG, Iowa — The town's lost-and-found has become a trove of items that were blown away by the May 25 tornado.

   The mementos began arriving at City Hall a couple of days after an EF5 tornado destroyed nearly a third of the town, killed eight people and swept away items of daily life. Three months later, the items continue to pour in daily.

   There are wedding albums, baby pictures, a wedding dress, a football and baseball card collection and a signed certificate of training from the Air Force.

   ``There's very sensitive stuff,'' Police Chief Chris Luhring said. ``Stuff that's priceless.''

   For example, there's a family Bible that contains a family history dating back generations. It is kept in a freezer to preserve it from water damage.

   ``You can't replicate that,'' Luhring said. ``You can't do that over again.''

   Doreen Thorne, 77, loves quilting and decided to make a quilt for each of her eight grandchildren. She had sewn four quilts when she heard the tornado sirens.

   She and her 84-year-old husband rushed to the basement. When they came out, everything was gone.

   ``After the tornado, I wasn't looking for anything,'' Thorne said. ``There was nothing laying around the house. I assumed everything was blown away.''

   Then she heard about a city building that was collecting items returned to Parkersburg. Peeking out of plastic bag was one of her quilts, found on top of a house in Denver, Iowa, about 35 miles away from Parkersburg.

   Thorne also found a quilt her daughter had made for her for Mother's Day a few years ago. In the center of the quilt is a picture from Thorne's 25th wedding anniversary.

   It was hanging on a wall in her home when the tornado blew it away. She thought she'd never see it again.

   Then a package arrived at the temporary City Hall. Inside it was the quilt, soiled and torn. It included a note that read: ``Found by Michael McClain when planting corn in the John McClain field between Westgate and Sumner.''

   That's about 60 miles northeast of Parkersburg and about 25 miles from where her other quilt was found.

   ———

   Information from: The Des Moines Register, http://www.desmoinesregister.com