The Hill News

Early Saturday morning, I made my way down to Henryville, Indiana. I wanted to get a formal briefing and a firsthand look at the aftermath of the tornado storm that claimed lives and laid waste to this community and to towns across a six-county area of Indiana.

Driving into Henryville in the squad car of a state police officer who experienced the storm was really something. The trooper told me of watching a police car literally blown off the highway in front of him as the storm approached and how he thought, "this was it."

As you exit the interstate and drive east, you see homes leveled, battered and broken next to schools and businesses shattered by the tornado. Even one week later, the power of this storm is evident everywhere you look.

We joined the fire chief as well as state and local emergency officials at the end of their morning briefing and were informed of the progress and challenges in the cleanup and the rebuilding effort. Many of these first! responders have been here since hour one, but the commitment each of them reflected was inspiring.

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