Writing Prompt: 5 Tornadoes in 5 Days

5 Tornadoes in 5 days

Day six dawned with clear skies and no wind. Maybe we would be lucky today.

Not that there was much of the town left.

Five tornadoes in five days all in the same town, all at 5 o’clock.

Wind had turned the buildings to debris then to rubble then to complete devastation by day five. There was hardly enough dirt left to blow.

We watched the white clad team of scientists swarming like ants around the magic weather machine. It was going to save us.

Ha! They acted so smart flooding the town with their shiny government trucks. Unnatural phenomenon, they called it.  Five tornadoes, five days, 5 o’clock .

“Maybe its aliens,” Fred hawked and spat.

It ain’t aliens,” Joe sneered. “This is Oklahoma. Aliens stick to New Mexico.”

“Maybe God don’t like our new mayor.”  Fred eagerly looked to Joe.

“God don’t care about our mayor,” Joe smacked Fred on the arm, “preachers, yeah, but not mayors”

“Well then, what do you think it is?” Fred rubbed his arm.

“Jehovah witnesses.” Joe said with complete surety.

“It ain’t Johovah witnesses.” I scoffed. “They use pamphlets and they’d blow away in the wind.”

“Well, you’re so smart what do you think it is?” Joe crossed his arms and stared me down.

“Maybe it’s the Democrats!” Fred interrupted.

Joe smacked Fred on the back of the head, “Shut up, stupid.”

“You’re stupid.” Fred mumbled.

I shook my head thinking it was probably just Mother Nature trying to rid the world of stupid people like Fred and Joe.

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Why are you so surprised?

When my husband is gone I try to keep up with the weather wherever he is. At the moment that is Kansas, and with the storms and tornadoes in that area: I WORRY! So I turned on the news while I drank my coffee and saw a little story about a man in Arkansas that was helping his fellow neighbors.
Arkansas man rushes to aid tornado victims.
This was an awesome show of humanity. Digging and searching through debris to find anyone who had been buried with no hesitation is the ultimate act of heroism. The news was careful to point out that this man was not an emergency services worker.
Now I’m going to say something that will probably piss off a lot of people. Why the Hell are you so surprised that this man and countless others are doing this?! Where did we get the idea that only those qualified, such as EMTs or police, are the only ones who can help?
Every year hundreds of tornadoes rip through the plains of this country. It is called Tornado Alley for a reason. Men and women from all walks of life dump what they are doing to help each other every single time one of the those horrid disasters happen. Why is everyone so surprised that people are helping each other?
I remember as a kid in eastern Colorado, whenever there was a grass fire every farmer for miles would grab shovels or get in their tractor and go to the fire to help put it out. Or just recently there have been avalanches here in Montana. When one hit Missoula, most of the town descended on the area and started digging for survivors.
Deep down humans will always help each other. There is no question of this. It is in our nature. We are in this together. Too often we get caught up in our quest to improve our own circumstances that we forget the needs of others. Then an emergency happens and all we can think about it saving lives. Material goods stop mattering. I just wish that we could remember this without a disaster to prompt us.