Parkersburg city administrator inspires Nodaway Valley staff

Chris Luhring was the guest speaker at Nodaway Valley Monday as the school district’s staff returned in full to their respective buildings to prepare for Friday, which is the first day of school.

Luhring is the city administrator in Parkersburg, where on May 25, 2008, an EF-5 tornado struck the town of just over 2,000 in Butler County. Similarly to May 21 in Greenfield, in a matter of seconds, over 400 homes were destroyed or damaged, seven people lost their lives and at least 70 individuals were transported to nearby hospitals with injuries. To this day, Parkersburg has been touted as an example community of how you rebuild successfully after a tornado.

When the tornado struck, Luhring was Parkersburg’s police chief.

A little over a year later, in June 2009, Aplington-Parkersburg’s legendary football coach, Ed Thomas, was shot by a former student-athlete during a summer lifting session in the school’s weight room. He had been instrumental in the rebuilding thus far after the tornado, saying that their beloved football program would play its first game on their home field the fall after the tornado, even though it had been destroyed in the storm.

During his talk in Nodaway Valley’s auditorium, which lasted about an hour, Luhring impressed upon the school staff how important their role is in the lives of the children and fellow staffers they’ll be in contact with this school year.

“For some of you, every breath, every morning, every thing that happens to you throughout a day reminds you of that day [the tornado hit]. That will go on for a long time,” Luhring said. “One of the things Coach Thomas and I share is that we’re both very emotional, and I can’t shut it off. You guys are going to have a very emotional week. Some of you might have a very emotional year. Some of you might call me up in a year and ask me when it’s going to stop. If I’m honest, I’m going to say it might never stop.”

Luhring said elementary teachers may have students playing games referencing the tornado for the rest of their elementary school careers. Students may build something and then destroy it similar to the tornado’s destruction.

“That’s not meant to depress, it is meant to impress upon you that kids are very, very resilient,” Luhring said. “It’s not the mayor, it’s not the police chief, not the city council. Greenfield’s success psychologically is primarily, 100% dependent on you people. That’s just reality. That’s awesome, because the opportunity you have is immense.”

Luhring remembers one of the first things leaders in Parkersburg had to do was decide that they were going to silence naysayers through their actions and leadership. Some said Parkersburg wouldn’t ever rebuild. He even knows of a community that decided to not rebuild after a disaster, and that town doesn’t exist anymore. Parkersburg leaders made the opposite choice. Their population and school enrollment have both grown since the rebuild.

The 2008 tornado wasn’t the first time Parkersburg had to rebuild from a disaster. After the tornado, Luhring found a newspaper clipping from 1894, when Parkersburg decided to rebuild after a large, devastating fire ruined a lot of the town. He said the fact that community leaders rebuilt then was a key encouragement to him and others after the tornado that they could also do it.

Tornado drills won’t be the same in schools again, Luhring said, and many other things won’t be either. A key piece in kids being resilient is finding age-appropriate ways to help them process emotions they’re facing and will continue to face.

Luhring is thankful to still have his parents, who survived the tornado. He was so sure they hadn’t made it that he didn’t even go down their street immediately after the tornado. Instead, he went on to “help the next person,” by setting up incident command at Parkersburg’s fire station. Later, he received a phone call from his dad, who just remembered their water heater getting sucked out of the house. They were injured but OK.

Luhring made one visit to Greenfield in late June to speak to the disaster recovery team, comprised of local leaders working to make Greenfield successful in its own recovery. He will also appear at a Sunday, Sept. 15 community meeting at the high school.

He was a part of penning a book called “The Sacred Acre: The Ed Thomas Story,” which spells out Thomas’ teaching and coaching career, his love for his community, his faith and his family’s journey to forgive the shooter who claimed his life. Luhring said helping to write the book was one of the hardest things he’s ever done, but its impact has been impressive. Luhring went through school with one of Thomas’ sons, Aaron, who is now one of the high school administrators and coaches several sports at A-P.

“It’s very inspiring to be an Iowan and know this is how we do it in Iowa,” Luhring said.