As violent storms and tornadoes left their mark on the Midwest on Sunday, students with family residing in these areas could do nothing but wait for news regarding the condition of their communities.
Senior Shelby Beasley is from Greentown, Ind., a small town just outside of Kokomo, Ind.
"Greentown has one stoplight," Beasley said. Her family goes to Kokomo for most of what it needs.
Kokomo was one of several cities with significant damage in the Midwest.
"The winds were so strong that windows blew out of [the JC Penney's,] and it turned cars over in the parking lot," Beasley said.
Beasley said that she has seen photos of the damage and statuses asking for volunteers to help clean up debris.
"While my home didn't have damage, there were quite a few people that I knew from the area that I lived in who had damage to their homes," Beasley said.
Beasley received a phone call from her father earlier in the day warning her that there were tornadoes possibly heading towards Greencastle. She went to church that evening and didn't find out the extent of the damage until later.
"When I got home [and went on Facebook], I was seeing statuses and pictures of things that had been destroyed and I got really worried," Beasley said.
Beasley noted that Facebook was her go-to source in finding out how friends and family were doing.
Junior Jake Weeks, who is also from Kokomo, said he felt fortunate that his home was not damaged in the storm.
Weeks said his favorite donut shop, Dan's Donuts, did not fair as well. The shop, which is affectionately called Dirty Dan's by the locals, was one spot completely destroyed in the storms.
Both Weeks and Beasley said they struggled most being away from family.
"I thought it was more stressful being here," Weeks said. "I just couldn't do anything regardless of if I found out something was destroyed."
This was the first major storm that Beasely had to rely on technological communication with her family rather than being with them when they were going through it.
"I remember when there was another huge horrible tornado that went through the Greentown [and] Kokomo area and having to be in the pantry with a bunch of pillows, but we were all together," Beasley said. Sunday did not provide that same comfort for her though.
"I thought, 'What if something's happening right now? I'll have no way of knowing about it until hours after its already taken place," she said.
Weeks agreed.
"The unknown just really puts that stress on you," he said.
Sophomore Alex Moss has a cousin that lives in Peoria, Ill., which is close to Washington, Ill., another city that was also devastated after Sunday's storms. Their house was one of the few left standing in their neighborhood.
"I think they had some damage, but it was not nearly comparable to the extensive damage to the rest of the community," Moss said.
Moss faced the same uncertainty as Beasley and Weeks.
"I think it's hard because you're not in direct contact with people who are in the know," Moss said.
Beasley added that she thought that the fact that several businesses shut down and sent workers home ended up saving lives.
"Thankfully nobody [in Kokomo] was actually killed during this tornado," Beasley said, "but they said it was the worst tornado that Kokomo has seen in 50 years."
With the storm occurring just before Thanksgiving, Weeks thinks it will have to power to unite the community.
"The degree of camaraderie and the overall thankfulness people have will definitely be increased during the holidays," Weeks said.
Weeks added that he has already had a lot of support from some unexpected people, "It's great to see how many people do care."
