In “The Wizard of Oz,” a twister rolls through, but, in the end, Dorothy just wakes up and everything looks alright, with everything back to normal. Tornadoes recently rolled through many parts of Nebraska and the United States. Devastatingly, Americans can not just wake up from this dream to see perfection. Instead, some are left with a living nightmare.

“There was lots of debris and parts of homes, everything was hit and thrown apart,” junior Logan Secora said.

Destroyed homes, ruined cars, lost belongings and the broken hearts of the victims are left instead. But in the darkest times, the light finds a way to shine through. Many have been volunteering their time and effort to help those in need.
On Saturday, May 4, after the big storms in Elkhorn, Waverly and Blair, an announcement was sent out on the Gretna Football team app to help clean up the damage.

There were some, but few, houses in Gretna that were damaged, but the Gretna citizens were still there to help surrounding communities.

“There have been things in Gretna that we have needed help with, and I believe we have an obligation for our kids to help out,” head football coach Joe Dalton said.

Even though Dalton was unable to help that day, he put his share of effort in to help in this situation. He got in contact with other coaches and nearby areas searching for those in need of some more help. When putting the announcement on the team app, he encouraged a handful of the boys to take some of their time that weekend to go help clean up. One of those boys was Secora.

Not all of the football team was there, but Secora decided that he should go and help. He said that if it were him in the situation he would want others to help him. With that in mind, he decided to treat others the way he would want to be treated and help with the cleaning.

As they entered the scene, most of the volunteers agreed that heartbreak was in the air and many were sorrowful, for obvious reasons.

“It was really sad,” Secora said “There were a lot of people crying or weren’t in a good mood because their house got ripped down. It was really sad and I was glad I got to help a little bit.”

Tornadoes have been whipping through all over the United States for weeks. According to ABC News, during the week of May 10 of this year, there have been 125 tornadoes in 22 states, with several more severe storms reported as well.

There are many ways people can help out in Nebraska and the surrounding states, too. The American Red Cross is a supportive organization that those interested in helping can donate to or get in contact with if interested in volunteering.

Donating time or money is a huge help, but one of the best ways to help these people and places that have experienced this tragedy is said best by Secora – “Keep people in your thoughts and prayers.”