Tiffany Logue

Staff writer

   On April 14, Tushka was hit by an EF3 tornado, which indicates a tornado with 136-165 mph wind gusts. The tor­nado warning began at approximately 6 p.m.

   A majority of residents questioned said did not heed the warnings because they thought it could never happen to Tushka.

   Little did they know that a tornado headed to their hometown would de­stroy much of the town and Tushka school, the heart of the community.

   “All of our cherished memories were taken away so quickly,” said Southeast­ern sociology major Jessica Sawyer. “And the place where those precious memories were made can never be re­placed.”

   This tornado killed two elderly sis­ters and injured 25 more. Tushka Public School was destroyed beyond repair. Houses were ruined everywhere. Vehi­cles were thrown everywhere, and trees that were hundreds of years old were uprooted.

   Local retired school teacher and Tush­ka graduate Loretta Cook lost much more than her home and school.

   Her husband, John, worked on their roof a month after the tornado to get the house into a more livable condition. While trying to fix the roof, John fell and broke every bone in his face.

   In an effort to save his life, the doctors in Oklahoma City performed surgery. John’s body was not able to recover from the surgery.

   Therefore, on top of losing her school and house, she was grieving the loss of her husband. Despite losing so much, Loretta Cook is still repairing her home and said she is getting stronger every day.

   Just like Cook, Tushka is in the re­building process. Homes everywhere are slowly getting their roofs put back on and are being occupied again.

   As for the heart of the community, the school is being rebuilt.

   While it is a slow process, the super­intendent, Billy Pingleton, expects the new school to be ready to open for stu­dents in two years. “I’m excited about getting new facilities and a fresh start,” stated Pingleton.

   While the new school’s plans have been put on paper, Pingleton said the administration is more concerned with getting the necessities for Tushka to continue school this fall.

   According to Pingleton, the students will be attending class in portable build­ings for the next year.

   There will be three portable buildings: two classrooms and a kitchen. They will be placed onto the land that Tushka school was on for almost 100 years.

   The rebuilding will take place on the west side of Boggy Depot (across U.S. Highway 69/75 from where the school was located before the tornado).

   The school will be built where two T-ball fields were located, so the new school can still be worked on during school hours.

   The plans show the new school’s structure to resemble a large square if you include parking spaces and the new road the administration is hoping to have built on the east side.

   Although Tushka looks much better, there is still damage from the tornado everywhere.

   It will take years for Tushka to fully recover. However, the school being re­built is a great hope to local residents. “The memories we had there will never be the same, but on a better note,we all know that the buildings were so old,” said psychology and sociology double major SE student Amanda Mandrell.    “Through the devastation, God has blessed us and our future generations with a newly built school and better buildings.”