Stronger than the Storm
Megan and Brad Pifer’s home
April 6, 2023
Forty-two miles. Thirty minutes. Half of a mile wide. Six passed. Numerous Injuried. This is the reality that Crawford and Sullivan Counties faced on Friday, March 31st, 2023. As a tornado formed near St. Marie, and continued to go through rural Oblong, Hardinville, New Hebron, south Robinson, Palestine, and south Sullivan, it created a disastrous path around forty-two miles long. Several Pioneer families were affected by this storm, but fortunately all are physically okay now.
We had the opportunity to speak with Cody York, whose grandparents lost most of their farm in the storm. Robert and Cindy York, both graduates of PHS, were both unharmed and their house was mostly untouched. Their farm, however, was hit hard as well as their cattle, resulting in the loss of six cows. While most were killed from the result of the storm, one was killed due to a car coming from Mattoon to check out the damage. The Yorks have done a lot in their clean up process, and are almost ready to begin rebuilding.
North of town, you’ll find a row of homes belonging to the Pifers and the Knobletts. As the storm path was clear through the tree line, it took the homes of both Megan and Brad Pifer, as well as Mario and Shannon Zanandrea, and damaged farm equipment from sheds to semis, and everything in between. All of the families are safe and unharmed, but both homes are uninhabitable, as well as farm equipment unsalvageable. The silver lining of their story is their animals. The Pifers had small goats as pets, and after the storm their pen was destroyed. One would assume that these goats had passed due to the winds, but shortly into Saturday afternoon, they came trotting back from across the fields! The Zanandreas chickens faced a similar situation, and now despite the debris and cleaning you can find the chickens and goats roaming close to their former homes, safe and sound.
If there is one thing we have all learned from this storm, it’s that we all come together after an event like this. Flying S, the aerospace company south of Palestine, arranged a crew to help clear debris at the airport and the Yorks fields. Many CUSD #3 faculty members, including Principal Will, helped with clean up as well as meals for those affected. Churches and the local NOW program have been accepting donations and distributing them to victims as well. While no one wants events like this to happen in the first place, it truly does put faith back in humanity to see just how many strangers will lend a helping hand to those in need. A special thank you is well deserved to Ameren, Norris Electric, and other linemen who helped restore power to the county in such a short amount of time. When people come together and help those in need, something beautiful blossoms from their efforts. If there is one thing we surely know now, it is that we are stronger than the storm.
