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thursday night around 8:30/45ish i was the closest to oz i have ever been. a tornado touched down only 2 blocks near my apartment. and then continued to rip down the middle of downtown iowa city. i watched it. i heard it. there was nothing like it. the sound was incredible. it was as if my right ear lost all hearing and all my left ear could hear was a deep swooshing sound with a faint whistle. but the tornado towards my left, that moments before was a mere 2 blocks away as the top part swirled directly above us, was at that exact moment picking and chosing what it wanted to destroy and what it wanted to leave untouched. the destruction is like nothing i ha ever seen before. cars upside down, buildings collapsed, rooftops completly gone. along with mangled street lights that were twisted in and around trees. boards that had penetrated buildngs as if they were built that way. gas station sign form miles away dropped in the middle of town. and yes one car in a tree. amazing. i'm still in awe of the power. in awe of how fortunate my apartment complex was and the people that only got hurt and only one death.

and tonight it might happen all over again. we have strong storms heading our way and now that i've seen it happen the "it'll never happen to me" mentality is the only thing missing in action.

love you all - cody tyler