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[Mhayes]

Yesterday I attended the funeral of my aunt Betty who died at the age of 84, but was gone long before that to Alzheimer’s. What Alzheimer’s couldn’t take from us were the memories and the photos that brought back a happier time of a wonderful woman.

After coming home from the funeral; I had a few more hours before leaving for Andover to set up a display and brochures for the OPR’s table. That day marked 20 years ago when an F5 tornado hit Andover, KS. The article in The Wichita Eagle was a little misleading when it said more than 200 photos when the number was closer to 1,000+ http://www.kansas.com/2011/04/21/1816680/andover-will-try-to-find-photos.html

The unclaimed photos were arranged on tables in a horseshoe design as you walked into Andover’s city hall. There was a sign up sheet and a box of disposable gloves for people to put on as they sorted through the damaged photos. Outside of the hall was where I had a table along with the Red Cross and the emergency 1st responders. As people would walked by I would hand them a brochure and tell them about OPR’s service. They were amazed at the results and were happy to hear that Andover City Hall would at a later date have OPR’s come back to help. One of the city council members was so enthused about what we do that she grabbed some brochures and was passing them around to those inside that I had missed. Later I was asked to give a brief speech to the council about OPR. I have listed links about last night and even though we are not on TV---we did get the word out. In one of the videos, the man in the orange shirt was so happy to hear about OPR.

It was amazing to see people find photos that were missing that long. One lady found about 13 of her photos and others were only able to find 1 or 2. One lady I talked to found only one and it had a picture of her and her ex-husband. While not the most treasured photo, she was grateful her kids could have it. Some items were returned to Andover after being dropped some 100+ miles away.

Below are links to last night and the very last link is a video of the newscast 20 years ago.. Some parts of this video may be hard to watch and I cringe when I hear the man tells his frightened child there is no place to run from a tornado.

http://www.kake.com/home/headlines/Families_Recall_Andover_Tornado_That_Claimed_Lives_Homes_120751154.html

http://www.ksn.com/news/local/story/Tornado-surivivors-reclaim-memories-in-recovered/LpAZ8R21cE6Po8P73Lfkog.cspx

http://www.kwch.com/news/kwch-news-mes-pictures-found-after-andover-torndado-can-be-claimed-at-city-hall-20110425,0,21507.story

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/FDn_aL6RIfo&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/FDn_aL6RIfo&rel=0</a>

[Tori803]

Thanks, Margie, for the news on Andover. It's amazing that some people were able to find photos after so much time.

So sorry to hear about your aunt. Alzheimer's is a such devastating disease. As you point out, we are constantly reminded about how important our photos are to us.

Tori

[G3User]

Thanks for posting Margie, it is hard for Australians to comprehend weather events of this magnitude.

It must have been great to see photos being recovered after so many years, if any get into the system please flag them so we know what we are getting.

Sorry to hear of your loss, it is a miserable affliction. Would you feel better if I knitted you something?

Cheers

Athol

[Mhayes]

Athol,

Doesn't Australia have typhoons, which I would think are pretty deadly?

I just added some photos to my gallery, but if and when I get Andover's they will be the next added and I will let everyone know on the forum. Andover is keeping the photos on display until next Tuesday for viewing. Despite the age and the damage, I thought the photos looked in better shape than those we have from flooding.

Knitting? I get nervous with you and needles! 

Margie

[Hannie]

Margie, I'm so sorry to hear about your aunt's passing.

Thanks for posting the links, the video from 1991 was very dramatic, I have never seen anything like it. 
On todays news there was a report on the tornadoes in the southern US states, heartbreaking to see what is happening there.

In Australia there are cyclones, although I think that a typhoon is very similar.

It was great to see people find their photos after all this time, I wonder what they will do with the rest of the photos?

Hannie

[Pat]

Margie, I’m glad you have photos of your aunt during better times.  It would be wonderful if you could use some of them to Photoshop a small montage to present to various family members as a keepsake reminder of her life during happier times.

Your right Margie I found a couple of the Andover videos impossible to sit through from beginning to end.
  
Like Hannie I too wonder what will happen to the unclaimed Andover photos after this attempt to find their owners.  It would be terrible if they were destroyed.

Pat