For my birthday, Jake got me a chocolate candy bar and some candle wax air fresheners. He is a thoughtful young man. Jayden bought me dinner when we were in Dallas. Ali and Luke, well they told me happy birthday. On my birthday, March 5, 2021 tornadoes touched down in Iowa with deaths, injuries, and extensive damage. Earlier in the day, Mark and I met my parents, Wade, and Levi in Ames for a birthday lunch at El Azteca. My parents had just gotten back from Florida and this was a great chance to all see each other and celebrate Wade and my birthdays. After lunch Mark wanted to take me to Des Moines for my birthday. His idea was to take me to the Jordan Creek mall and let me pick something out for myself. There was a lot of talk about stormy weather, thunderstorms and tornado watches. I really didn't like the idea of going to Des Moines in stormy weather. Mark insisted we go and wasn't worried about the weather one bit. Mark, Luke, and I went to Jordan Creek, Jake went to help his friend haul a broken down truck to his home. Jake really needs to hang out with guys that have more reliable vehicles. All his friends have vehicles that end up on the side of the road with Jake to the rescue. At the mall, Mark told me to look at jewelry and find something for myself. I haven't had a new ring from Mark since we got married 23 years ago. I have wanted a ring for some time and decided to look at all the jewelry stores in the mall. I found one I really liked that was a tanzanite stone with a sliver band that had a neat design and shape to it. All the rings with diamonds around the stone or along the band seemed to busy, too flashy and too big. Honestly I wouldn't know if it was real or fake. I liked another band that had tiny diamonds called chocolate and nude. It was really pretty, but I thought it would be too much. I showed Mark the ring I liked, maybe he will remember and surprise me someday. The mall was crazy busy! I have not been to a mall that crowded since the month before Christmas. I didn't like it one bit. I would have rather not been there than to shop with all those people. There was a steady flow of people all throughout the mall. It was girls state basketball, so a big crowd was in town. It almost gave me anxiety. At one point we all split up and went separate ways, that's when the tornado sirens in the mall started going off. My first thought was to stay calm and get all 3 of us back together. I did not like being separated. I called Mark and Luke and told them where to meet. People were streaming down the stairs and escalators. People were confused, lost, frazzled trying to figure out what to do, where to go, how to find the people they were with. The stores closed and locked their doors. Security was directing people into shelters from the top floor. We were on the bottom floor so Mark had to go outside and see first hand what was going on. I think that is the worst idea ever. He went for a look and said, it was no big deal just a thunderstorm. There were people scattered here and there on the bottom level sitting standing, watching their phones. My mom and Wade called to give me updates. Apparently Chariton, Norwalk, and Winterset were hit by a tornado. For 30 minutes we sat and waited. Then just like that the sirens stopped and the doors were opened and life in the mall resumed as if nothing had ever happened. People came flooding out the shelter doors and filled the mall back up. I was thankful not to have to be in the shelter crowd. Shoppers went back to shopping, people went to the food court, including us, and we went on to the movie. Mark convinced me to stay and go to the movie. WE knew the storm had passed, so I was able to enjoy the action packed movie.
Over the next 24 hours, we heard the stories and saw the photos of the damages and lives taken. One heartbreaking family, lost a mother, a husband, and two of her three small young children. My heart breaks for the poor mother. Houses were leveled, debris and damage throughout and then add in some hail. It was not a pretty storm. The Madison County Emergency Management Agency said in addition to the six deaths in Madison Country, at least four adults were injured. One of those people suffered life-threatening injuries, while the other three are considered serious. Both children who were killed were under the age of 5, officials said. At least an EF-3 tornado ripped through the Winterset, Iowa, area just southwest of Des Moines, at about 4:30 p.m. local time, according to the National Weather Service.
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