|
AFTER THE STORM
New Hartford man counts his blessings
By Anelia K. Dimitrova
6/7/2008 12:00:00 AM
|
|
|
Wes Godfrey lost his home but his family was spared. When unborn daughter Sophie grows up, he will tell her the story of the 2008 deadly twister.
|
Sophie Godfrey has yet to be born, but her likeness has already ridden a tornado.
On May 25, as a twister ripped through New Hartford, the 205-mph winds lifted her parents’ house like a baby’s toy, taking her ultrasound picture on a 105-mile ride to the Clayton County town of Monona.
What Sophie will be thankful for is that the deadliest tornado in 40 years spared her family.
This the story her dad, Wes, will tell his daughter about the EF-5 twister that claimed eight lives, destroyed 220 homes and wiped out 21 businesses in Butler County alone.
When Wes Godfrey saw the macabre-looking clouds creep on the horizon, he knew it was going to be serious.
But when the clouds headed in the direction of his brand new home at 30654 Deer Trail Drive, he hurried to the tornado shelter under the porch.
There, his 8 1/2-month- pregnant wife, Erin, daughter Gracie, 7, and son Hayden, 10, sat in tense anticipation.
“I said a prayer and after my prayer I knew two things: I knew we would get hit, and I knew we would be okay,” Wes says.
An eerie, 2-minute silence followed.
Then the family heard the sound of heavy rain and wind hitting above.
“We were terrified,” says Wes. “We were underneath our blankets and I was holding my daughter and my wife was holding my son.”
It lasted 30 seconds.
Wes was the first to walk upstairs.
He saw only the sky above. Around him was unimaginable destruction.
“I didn’t expect to see the house blown away,” says the Sara Lee executive. “I rushed back to the shelter to tell my wife.”
Most of their material possessions were gone. Two weeks before the disaster, the family stored all of their pictures in the basement, a lucky move, but the twister toyed with their wedding rings, tossing them on the lawn.
“I was grateful my family was okay,” Wes says. “I do not care about the material things.”
Wes called on the congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Cedar Falls for help.
On Tuesday, fellow church member Dave Herrmeyer was on site to lend a hand, moving away the mortar-bound bricks tossed around.
“Service is just a huge part of our normal everyday teaching,” he says. “When something like this happens, everyone pitches in and helps. It’s a culture with us.”
Wes’ father in-law, Chuck Jensen, and his brother-in-law, Brian Koch, were also busy cleaning up the debris.
“We are grateful our church helped us through the ordeal,” says Wes. “They have been very supportive. They came and rescued us.”
On Friday, the Godfreys left Iowa to relocate to their native Utah.
“The weather didn’t scare me,” Wes jokes, explaining that it was a career move. “This is one of the most beautiful places I have lived.”
All of this will be news for little Sophie, who, in case memories fade, has a digital record to consult.
As the twister neared, Wes kept his camera rolling. He taped the natural disaster as a diversion for his wife, a tornado chaser wannabe, who had been laid up with a difficult pregnancy.
“We were really, really lucky,” Wes says, counting his blessings.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|