It was a May evening like any other in the small Midwestern town of Hickman Mills where I grew up, but as evening settled in something felt different.

I remember the scene in detail — neighborhood dogs were silent, birds ceased their nest building — no barks, no chirps — no sounds at all.

There was a sense of something about to happen — and soon it did.

To the east a shelf of coal-black clouds formed across the horizon, and as I watched a funnel-shaped cloud dropped to the ground and headed toward our home. With the fascination only a child can muster, I studied the swirling funnel as my parents gathered belongings and my younger brother.

As we went down the steps to the storm cellar, I took a final look at the world I knew. It would never be the same.

When we emerged a short time later, the neighborhood was gone. A powerful category 5 tornado, packing winds of over 300 mph and a mile wide, had rearranged my world.

Fueled by the flat plains of Kansas, this tornado cut a path of destruction over 71 miles in length. The result was 500 people injured, 39 fatalities and 400 homes damaged or destroyed.

The emotion of such a disaster is hard to describe. I experienced it again last Wednesday afternoon in the small community of Evergreen.

I honestly was not prepared for what I saw at Evergreen — people standing beside homes no longer livable, or worse, piles of rubble.

I recognized the look of grief and shock on Alice Clavel’s face — and told her so.

She nodded and gave me a hug, then through tears, pointed to the flashing red and blue lights of police and rescue vehicles.

“It’s wonderful — all these people here to help,” she said.

A week after the storm a veritable army of volunteers has mobilized. From GoFundMe and Facebook pages to volunteers in work boots “on the ground,” the cleanup is underway.

In all our surrounding counties, in fact, relief efforts have mobilized.

Evergreen, like the hardy evergreens that the dot rolling hills nearby, will persevere.

Marge Swayne is the lifestyles editor of The Farmville Herald. Her email address is marge.swayne@farmvilleherald.com.