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Finding a needle in a haystack: Family looks for precious memory in tornado wreckage
By Alyssa Gomez
Finding a needle in a haystack: Family looks for precious memory in tornado wreckage
EIGHT NEWS AT TEN. WELCOME BACK. STORMS TORE THROUGH SOUTH OF THE METRO LAST NIGHT. TWO DAMAGING HOMES IN CRESTON, AFTON AND OSCEOLA. KCCI IS ALYSSA GOMEZ STOPPED BY TO SURVEY SOME OF THAT DAMAGE AND EVEN SPOKE WITH A FAMILY WHO THOUGHT THEY LOST NEARLY EVERYTHING. THIS IS WHAT’S LEFT OF JOE AND JOANNA’S BEDROOM. AND WHAT WE’RE STEPPING INTO IS WHERE THEY USED TO SPEND THEIR CHRISTMASES AND EASTERS AND FAMILY GATHERINGS. THIS MORNING HAS BEEN ABOUT FINDING WHATEVER MEMORIES ARE LEFT IN THE WRECKAGE OF WHAT USED TO BE THEIR HOME. SO IT LOOKS LIKE IT JUST KIND OF SUCKED EVERYTHING OUT AND JUST PUT IT RIGHT HERE ON THE LAWN. SARAH ROBINSON IS THE DAUGHTER OF JOE AND JOANNE FRANKSON, SO THIS USED TO BE THE KITCHEN SHE CALLED THEM FRIDAY NIGHT. I EVEN SENT MY MOM A PICTURE MOMENTS BEFORE THE TORNADO HIT OSCEOLA. AND I SAID, MAKE SURE THAT YOU’RE IN YOUR SAFE SPACE. THEY TOOK SHELTER IN A LOWER LEVEL BATHROOM. THEY COULD HEAR THE HOUSE BEING RIPPED APART AROUND THEM. I GOT A PHONE CALL FROM MY MOM MAYBE A HALF HOUR LATER, SAYING THE HOUSE IS GONE. 75 YEARS OF FAMILY PHOTOS, HANDMADE ART PROJECTS, AND HEIRLOOM AMES NOW SCATTERED WHEN YOU GO THROUGH, YOU REALIZE THIS IS WHAT’S IMPORTANT. NOT THE WALLS, NOT THE WALLS, BUT THE THINGS THAT CAN’T BE REPLACED. MY MOM IS HOPING THAT HER GRANDPARENTS WEDDING PHOTO IS UNDER THERE SOMEWHERE, BUT JOE AND JOANNE AREN’T THE ONLY ONES PICKING UP THE PIECES. FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND EVEN COMPLETE STRANGERS LENT A HELPING HAND AND PEOPLE THAT THEY’VE NEVER EVEN MET ARE SHOWING UP WITH CHAINSAWS AND SKID LOADERS AND JUST SAYING, HEY, I’M SO AND SO FROM DOWN THE STREET. HOW CAN I HELP? THE TORNADO DIDN’T EVEN MOVE THE ROUTER. SARAH SAYS SHE’S GRATEFUL FOR THE UNWAVERING SUPPORT AND EVEN MORE GRATEFUL THAT THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS IN THE HOUSE WERE UNHARMED. IF I HAD A MESSAGE FOR ANYONE WATCHING, IT WOULD BE WHEN YOU HEAR THEM SAY, TAKE SHELTER, DO THAT. BECAUSE IF MY PARENTS HADN’T LISTENED, THEY WOULD HAVE STILL BEEN SITTING ON THEIR COUCH RIGHT THERE. JOE AND JOANNE ARE SAFE AND SOUND, AND SARAH FOUND SOMETHING THEY THOUGHT THEY MIGHT HAVE LOST FOREVER, AND IT WAS HANGING AT THE HEAD OF THIS BED. IT’S RIGHT HERE. AWESOME. WE FOUND IT WHERE WE THOUGHT IT WAS. IT HAD LANDED. DIRECTLY ON THE BED AND WAS PROTECTED BY THE WALL THAT FELL ONTO IT. OH, GOOD. THAT MAKES ME SO HAPPY. THERE WAS JUST A FEW THINGS THAT I WANT TO MAKE SURE I HAD. OH, NEAT. OH,
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Finding a needle in a haystack: Family looks for precious memory in tornado wreckage
By Alyssa Gomez
Joe and JoAnn Franksain have 75 years' worth of family photos, keepsakes and priceless mementos.It's now all scattered across their yard after a tornado ripped through their Iowa home."You just want to pick stuff up and put it where it goes … but there's no place that it goes anymore," said Sara Robinson, Joe and JoAnn's daughter.The Franksains were sheltered in a lower-level bathroom, safe from the storm. Immediately after it passed, Sara answered a phone call from her mom."The house is gone," JoAnn said.Pieces of their home were found all over town, and miles away, shingles and insulation lay in the street. The top floor of the home is almost completely destroyed.Now all they want is to find the things that can't be bought … like JoAnn's grandparents' wedding photo."When you go through, you realize this is what's important, not the walls," Sara said.Looking around at the damage, she reflects on the night of the storm and what could have happened."The house being destroyed would be the least of our concerns if my parents hadn't listened when they were told to take shelter," she said. The Franksains have a lot of debris to dig through, but they still have one another and an army of people on their side willing to help.The storm hit Friday night. Come Saturday morning, friends, family and even strangers lined the block outside Joe and JoAnn's home, helping put the pieces of their lives back together."I didn't realize how lucky I was that I was going to be raised in Iowa. But any time our family has had any sort of adversity, Iowans have been there for us," Sara said.And in digging through the drywall and dust, Sara pulls a frame from the debris."It's right here," Sara said. It's a picture of a German immigrant couple, side by side, on their wedding day — JoAnn's grandparents.JoAnn sighs, dusting the dirt from the frame and embraces her daughter in hug. "Thank you," she said.A GoFundMe has been set up to help the Franksains.
OSCEOLA, Iowa —

Joe and JoAnn Franksain have 75 years' worth of family photos, keepsakes and priceless mementos.

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It's now all scattered across their yard after a tornado ripped through their Iowa home.

"You just want to pick stuff up and put it where it goes … but there's no place that it goes anymore," said Sara Robinson, Joe and JoAnn's daughter.

The Franksains were sheltered in a lower-level bathroom, safe from the storm. Immediately after it passed, Sara answered a phone call from her mom.

"The house is gone," JoAnn said.

Pieces of their home were found all over town, and miles away, shingles and insulation lay in the street. The top floor of the home is almost completely destroyed.

Now all they want is to find the things that can't be bought … like JoAnn's grandparents' wedding photo.

"When you go through, you realize this is what's important, not the walls," Sara said.

Looking around at the damage, she reflects on the night of the storm and what could have happened.

"The house being destroyed would be the least of our concerns if my parents hadn't listened when they were told to take shelter," she said.

The Franksains have a lot of debris to dig through, but they still have one another and an army of people on their side willing to help.

The storm hit Friday night. Come Saturday morning, friends, family and even strangers lined the block outside Joe and JoAnn's home, helping put the pieces of their lives back together.

"I didn't realize how lucky I was that I was going to be raised in Iowa. But any time our family has had any sort of adversity, Iowans have been there for us," Sara said.

And in digging through the drywall and dust, Sara pulls a frame from the debris.

"It's right here," Sara said.

It's a picture of a German immigrant couple, side by side, on their wedding day — JoAnn's grandparents.

JoAnn sighs, dusting the dirt from the frame and embraces her daughter in hug. "Thank you," she said.

A GoFundMe has been set up to help the Franksains.