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March 30, 2000
Comfrey community gathers todedicate courtyard and find solacein recovery from March '98 tornadoBy FRITZ BUSCH Journal Staff Writer COMFREY -- Rachelle Graff vividly remembers the tornado that destroyed much of Comfrey and tore a 40-mile gouge across Brown county on March 29, 1998. An assistant manager at the Cenex C Store on the south edge of town, she was working at the store that unusually warm and humid Sunday afternoon. The sky was green and black. The heavy air was cut only by what sounded like continuous thunder. "A customer acted like he didn't know what to do," said Graff. "I don't remember it, but somebody later told me that I told him we were supposed to go to the church across the road in case of a tornado. He told me nobody should leave the building." First, hail broke store windows. Another customer came into the store and the wind blew so hard, he couldn't shut the door. Window glass started bursting and Graff ran underneath the desk in the store office. The customers sought refuge in store aisles near the cooler cases. The tornado slammed the cooler doors open and closed. Customers ducked down to avoid being hit by flying debris. When they looked up, they were hit by cooler doors. "One of the customers later told me he wanted to die happy, so he reached into the cooler when it was open, grabbed a beer, and slammed it down fast," said Graff. "It was so dark in the office, I couldn't see anything," she said. "The building creaked and popped as glass broke. Somebody asked me if it was over yet. I said it wasn't, because I didn't hear the second part (back side) of the tornado come through. I was scared to death." Graff later stood up as things were flying around in the store, grabbed a phone book and started calling for help. Business is pretty much back to normal in Comfrey today. Mental scars remain. Graff gets frightened when the wind blows hard. If she hears lightning at night, she'll run to the basement with her kids. Wednesday afternoon, several hundred people gathered next to St. Paul's Catholic Church for the dedication prayer service for the Courtyard of Thanksgiving. The courtyard features walkways, a guardian angel statue, stand, benches, and a plaque. The guardian angel statue is a symbol of thanksgiving and rebirth in a city where the people wouldn't quit. ''I never talked to anyone, or overheard a conversation where they threw up their hands and said, 'I give up,''' Ivona Windschitl said. ''It was always, 'Where do we start? The courtyard is a open to all as a space to gather, pray, and give thanks to God and the guardian angels for protecting Comfrey from death during the tornado. St. Paul's Church, which was spared by the storm, served as a command center after the tornado. Eighteen thousand meals were served at the church during the first few months after the storm. At Wednesday's service, St. Paul's Pastoral Administrator Tom Christoffer read the gospel--Matthew 8:23-27. In the reading, Jesus asked his disciples during a storm while they fished in a boat, "Why are you afraid, you of little faith?" New Hope Lutheran Church co-pastor Duane Baglien said he too was overwhelmed and frightened during and after the tornado. "Perhaps, you remember that odd moment in the midst of the storm, when everything was still as the eye of the storm passed over," Baglien said. "In that moment of stillness, there was salvation for those caught in the storm that took a precious few seconds to save themselves and their loved ones." Baglien said the group was there to give thanks for what God has done for them. "There are moments in our lives when we reflect and take stock on God and what he does for us," Baglien said. His wife, New Hope co-pastor Patsy Baglien played guitar and sang the song "We've Survived," which she wrote and recorded. "Now as I face the rising sun, I know that healing has begun, no matter what the problems of the day. "As I take your hand in mine, every mountain will we will climb and the Lord will shine his light and how the way. Yes!" Nellie Richter is still filled with fear. The images of devastation are still fresh in Richter's mind: the twisted grain bins, collapsed storefronts and shattered homes. ''When the wind picks up, the fears come back that it hit once and it can come back again,'' she said. ''It's good to have two years behind us but yet, I don't know if we'll ever be normal or the same.'' Comfrey might not be the same, but it is thriving. The public school, a church and countless homes and businesses are being rebuilt. The population of more than 400 is on the rise. ''We're finding that our lower grades are having an increase in students in school, so that's a good sign.'' school Superintendent Bob Meyer said. As thanksgiving service participants walked to the basement of St. Paul's for a soup and sandwich supper, they signed a poster to be sent to Fort Worth, Texas, where a large tornado touched down and did heavy damage Tuesday. (Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.)
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