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Sensitive documents



Is it possible that these documents were lying out in files on desks
rather than locked away in a proper file drawer each night?  I'd really
like to know the "inside" details here.  We now know the buildings were
not ripped apart because the tornado's path did not go directly through
the main downtown area.  The furnishings weren't sucked away -- just
powerful winds produced by an F-2 tornado blew through after the windows
were shattered by major flying debris.

I live a mile or so from the Arlington F-3 tornado's path of
destruction.  Our electricity was out from the time it hit (a little
after seven by my clock) until about 2:30 a.m.  Only minutes before, my
daughter had just come home from a band activity held at Bowie High
School -- only blocks from where the tornado hit our post office and
destroyed the Tarrant County Human Services building. Some of my
daughter's school friends, however, were not so fortunate as they lived
in homes lying directly in the path where damage ranged from lost
shingles and fences to the total destruction of their homes.

My personal and selfish concern was will we get our mail and was my tax
refund blown away!  Amazingly, we have continued to get our mail as
always although I couldn't check my P.O. box the next morning.

This should also stir those of us who live in those states prone to
tornado weather to consider what records are most important to us and
how we might protect them -- beyond a safe deposit box at a bank -- or a
safe at home.  Where would all of your papers and valuables be if it
were you?  You certainly can't think of these things while disaster is
striking!  Hopefully, if don't already have one, you're also thinking of
a disaster plan for your own personal safety first.

Another concern we have here in Arlington is that our disaster sirens
did NOT go off.  When all this was happening, we kept listening for
them, and even stepped outside a few times.  Our dog started acting up
and usually storms don't bother her.  We soon heard police car sirens
but still no clue.  We had some gusts of wind, and then the power went
out in three blinks.  My lawn furniture didn't even move.  All things
considered, we should have been huddling in our downstairs closet under
the stairs.  Because of the storm, we did NOT turn on our TV. How do you
know when to act on a disaster plan when you get no warnings?  And we
didn't turn on our radio on until afterwards and all they could talk
about was Fort Worth, Fort Worth, Fort Worth.

Well, we're still here, but it does give one food for thought.

Leslie Wagner

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