July 3, 2018
Weathering the storm: A tale of family and community
By Daniel Arens
On a late Thursday evening, the prairie winds whistled over the North Dakota field. It was shortly after the first official day of summer, with its boat rides and barbeques and bonfires.
Then the winds started blowing. The rain came down, and the lightning lit a sky rendered inky black by the onset of the night and the storm.
Then the winds howled. Branches snapped, trees cracked, and families huddled nervously around a television screen or sheltering in the basement, in case things get worse.
Around Stanton, things got worse. The howling wind became a virtual hurricane. The creaking trees started to come down. Pushed against other trees, resting on the roofs of houses, blocking a small town road: they came down.
