There's no place like home...

At about 4 p.m. on Sunday, August 21, I was contentedly lounging on my couch, laptop on my lap, cold G&T in hand, editing a friend's thesis before she was due to submit the weekend after. Of course I had Tweetdeck running in the background, but I was only half paying attention to the various notifications I was receiving, until about 4:15 p.m. when this one flashed up on my screen and caught my eye.

For a good 10 seconds, I was numb. I couldn't process any sort of coherent thought. I didn't know how to react.

You see, my 97-year-old grandmother lives in Goderich.

My first coherent thought when I finally snapped out of the reverie was ohmygodgottacallmymom. My mother's not on Twitter, she doesn't watch TV during the day most days - I was betting that I was hearing this first. I picked up the phone, wondering as I did how on earth I was going to tell my mother that her mother was in a potential disaster zone. "You might want to try and call grandma," I said, when she picked up. "There's been a tornado in Goderich."

After a few more exchanges (Mom: What? Me: Yes, just flashed up on CBC News alerts. Mom: How bad? Me: I don't know, that's all I've got right now? etc.) she hung up. She called my grandmother.

There was no answer.

What passed next were the longest 50 minutes of my life to date. Twitter began to be flooded with images of the destruction and as I began to recognize landmarks, I began to fear even more. 

Image via CBC News

This church, you see, Victoria St. United, is two mere blocks from my grandmother's small apartment building. The courthouse square, where most of the damage seems to have occurred, is only one block away.

For the next 50 minutes, my mother tried the phone, I tried the Twitter to see if anyone in Goderich could check on her. I didn't succeed, but Twitter did give me useful updates - land line and cell phone service was sporadic, someone even checked in with a friend who could see my grandmother's block (but not get to it, blocked off by police) and said it appeared undamaged. This was good news, but still not the news we were hoping for. I'll admit it. I cried. A lot.

Shortly after 5 p.m., my mother called me back. Someone (a friend of a friend) had called her to let her know that my grandmother was ok. Her building didn't seem to be damaged, but the whole of downtown, where she lives, was a no-go zone, and so she was staying with a friend of the family.

The relief was immediate and wonderful and sunshine and probably the best emotion I have ever had. I cried again. It turns out that her building was not damaged, and she was back in just over a week after the tornado - power was on, and the gas was turned back on after 1.5 weeks.

I am incredibly grateful that my family (yes, in my anxiety about my grandmother, I neglected to think about the rest of my extended family that live in Goderich) are all alive and unharmed. But now, the reality sets in. Compare the Square when I was there not too long ago to the Square as it is now: 

Derek-Ruttan, The London Free Press

Check out the internet - a simple search for Goderich tornado photos will show you more. It's ... awesome. In the literal sense of the word. Completely awe-inspiring. My grandmother's cousin has trees down on her house. While it's still habitable, and the damage doesn't seem too severe, the full extent won't be known until the trees are removed. The cousin's daughter had the back ripped off her house - until a full assessment is done, she's been ordered out of the house she's spent the last several years single-handedly renovating - and her truck crushed by debris. The Square where I used to window shop is crumbling. The heritage buildings that I admired are in pieces. The trees I used to sit under to read in the summer sunshine by the courthouse are all gone. 

The town that is as close to a hometown as anything I've ever had (the problem with moving every few years when you were a kid) will never be the same. Looking at pictures of the devastation - I know it will take a long time to rebuild, but I am convinced that Goderich has it in her to become Canada's Prettiest Town again.

Of course, the emergency situation has passed, and now Goderich is out of the news, but if you can find it in you not to forget, and maybe have something to spare:

Goderich Disaster relief

The Edge Fund

I thank you, and I know Goderich thanks you.