Had I not watched television news yesterday, talked to residents of my community, or experienced the wind, rain and hail of the previous night, I might have believed that spring is now in full bloom here in Hot Springs Village, Arkansas.

I awoke this morning to fluffy white clouds filling a beautiful blue sky. The temperature is pleasant, the wind is calm, and the birds are singing. There are no golfers on the course, but it’s early. The course, however, still has water ponding in low spots from the drenching rains that visited us. I doubt that many golfers will be out today.

The EF-2 tornado that struck our Village Thursday evening was real, and I cannot forget that. So, today, I ventured out to visit nearby shopping areas and streets and neighborhoods other than my own. I wanted to see for myself the damage caused by the half-mile wide tornado that spent some 20 minutes cutting a path more than eight miles long through this tree-filled gated community.

Outside the gates, life and commerce continue just as normal, except for one horribly twisted shell of a building that was lifted off its foundation and deposited only a few feet away, adjacent to a strip center that was, for the most part, untouched. Today, a handful of people were seen sorting through a debris field almost the size of a city block

The manned main gate allows residents and authorized visitors to enter this community, home to slightly more than 14,000 people. The gates may add to our sense of security in some ways, but they were no deterrent to the wind and hail visited upon Hot Springs Village two nights ago.

It’s hard to believe that nature can be this brutal.

Later today, on my brief drive through the Village, I did my best to keep out of the way of the army of workers helping to clear debris, remove tree limbs from roadways, and restore power. The cleanup effort will continue, perhaps for weeks. Thankfully, there was minimal damage to homes and businesses in the area, and no serious injuries were reported. For that, we are all thankful.

The extent of the damage took my breath away. Once again, I was surprised at just how close these severely damaged pockets in the community are to my home. It was a vivid reminder of the power of nature and how ill-prepared many of us are for this kind of “natural” disaster.

Here are some photos:

It’s hard to believe that a metal building can be transformed into twisted rubble while buildings just next door sustain no visible damage. It’s harder still to understand how a debris field can be deposited virtually in the front house of a home not far away. But I have now seen up close the damage wrought by the relatively slow-moving tornado that swept through my area. I will not easily forget these images.

Much credit is due the hundreds of utility repair workers, road-clearing crews, tree removal companies, first responders, Village employees, street crews and others who responded to help our community. And residents must be commended for helping neighbors as necessary, and for listening to recommendations to stay off the streets and “out of the way” so that the professionals could get to work. You might also be interested in reading my first account of the storm, posted before we knew the full extent of the damage.

It has been quite an experience, one I hope I will not be required to repeat!