Most students look forward to their prom night and are sure that it will be a night they won’t forget. I remember my prom night well, but probably not quite as well as the students who attended the prom last Saturday will remember theirs. That’s because in the midst of the hair and make-up and putting on the perfect dress, a storm was picking up speed on the outskirts of Chenango County, eventually sending a tornado into a few structures along the way.
I thought my prom night was dramatic. I remember the dress, the hair, my date and most of all, the rain that wouldn’t stop. At the time, I was sure it would go down in history as the worst prom night ever, simply because the weather refused to cooperate.
The rain ruined our hair and left many of us looking like drowned rats by the time we made it from the house to the limo and then from the limo to the restaurant for dinner, but that was only a minor inconvenience. When the power went out at the restaurant and they kindly presented our table with a stuffed animal that sang and danced, we laughed and kept our spirits up. But when we tried to make it to the school and found flooded roads and detours, we started to worry.
Albeit a little bit late, we arrived at the prom to find everyone looked like a drowned rat and no one seemed to care.
On that night, I remember thinking things couldn’t have been much crazier. For this year’s students in the Otselic Valley area, I’m pretty sure it was. As students this year were getting ready for the prom, they encountered rain and storms and power outages, just as my class did, but some students had to deal with a little bit more as a tornado tore a path through Georgetown, causing extensive damage to one house and several out buildings along the way.
I’m not sure how I would have reacted if while I was preparing for my prom, a tornado tore the roof off of my house, but I’m pretty sure the drama factor would increase at least 10 times.
Of course, Saturday’s massive storm trees and power lines to fall, resulting in the closing of many roads, including the main road from one end of the district to another. A fact, which I’m sure, was another cause for stress for the students and parents in the area.
Despite the storm, the damage and the stress, the prom went on, and while it was probably a stressful evening for many, I’m sure the night will not soon be forgotten by anyone in the district.