I’ve probably met members of the Glenn family at one point or another over my years working for this publication, but I wouldn’t say I necessarily know them…certainly not as well as my colleague Fred Miller. I know their family farm, though.

I have family who lived on Sheperds Valley Road, so, at least a couple of times a year as I would visit for family picnics and such, I would see the sprawling acreage of the Glenn family farm traveling along Route 8. The green roof on the barn. The houses, nestled in the hills. The sight was always comfortable and familiar in a strange way.

As I crested the hill Wednesday morning, what greeted me wasn’t comfort, but heartache. Buildings gone, a home without a roof, debris littering those hillsides.

Nearby, and across Route 8, a row of tall pines had been snapped in half, with the tops now on the ground.

I wasn’t as familiar with the area of Smith Road, but approaching a narrow section of the road, crowded with vehicles from neighbors and television news stations, there was a heaviness of despair and uncertainty hovering over the site where Maple’s Towing had been. What had been a business now was a pile of crumpled metal. I was told there were vehicles inside, including a classic Corvette and possibly a couple of Harley Davidson motorcycles.

Nearby, others were busy trying to assess the damage to their homes.

I’ve never seen the damage of a tornado firsthand. We’ve heard, of course, of the dangers of such wild storms and seen the devastation from those which hit in the Great Plains and other areas of the nation, but it just wasn’t something I had been worried about growing up. Tornadoes don’t happen here, I was always led to believe. Something about the mountains and valleys of Appalachia being an obstacle to the storm being able to sustain itself. We know differently now.

According to various reports, this was the first known tornado in Hancock County. There probably were others, but the National Weather Service is still a relatively young organization and historical records for the area probably aren’t as readily available the farther back we go.

Now we know it’s possible. What can we do, though? We’re used to the spring floods and winter blizzards. There are ways to be warned and prepared when we are set to get heavy snows or to have the rivers and streams rise. What do we need to have the necessary warnings for a tornado in the event we would have another one?

Thankfully, there was no loss of human life this time, and only reports of one or two people with minor injuries.

Also, thankfully, this experience also showed how tight-knit of a community we truly have in the Upper Ohio Valley. People came together to help each other with cleanup, meal preparations, organizing fundraisers and more to assist those affected.

It’s going to be a long time before we have a sense of normalcy for many of our residents. We’re probably all feeling a little less secure now, and unsure of what to do.

I know I certainly don’t have any answers.

All I can think of is for all of us to take this experience, remember it and do what we can to be better prepared in the event it does happen again…and then hope it doesn’t.

(Howell, a resident of Colliers, is managing editor of The Weirton Daily Times, and can be contacted at chowell@weirtondailytimes.com or followed on Twitter/X @ChowellWDT)