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Winds blow roof of Wilkes-Barre City Hall

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PLAINS TWP. &mdash; As if dealing with the coronavirus pandemic isn&rsquo;t enough &mdash; believe me, it is &mdash; our region was faced with a tornado warning Monday.
				High winds ripped through the area, damaging trees and buildings, blowing a hole in Wilkes-Barre City Hall.
				Really, this is getting to be a bit too much.
				As reports are beginning to trickle out into the media that we may be seeing a &ldquo;leveling off&rdquo; of the spread of the COVID-19 virus, we are hit with a new set of fears &mdash; the tornado warning being the worst of those.
				We all remember June 13, 2018, when a tornado touched down on Mundy Street and tore through several businesses in the Arena Hub Plaza and the Wilkes-Barre Township Commons. Part of the sign from Dick&rsquo;s Sporting Goods was found a mile or so away in a wooded area off of I-81.
				The damage was in the millions. Businesses were closed for months and workers were displaced. It was a terrible time for our economy. Miraculously, nobody was killed.
				As I look back at that time, the first person I think of is Joe Stager. As the tornado hit, Stager, then 47, told me he experienced the most harrowing five minutes of his life.
				Stager said he had just locked the front doors of the Barnes and Noble store at 10 p.m. and it was already raining hard. Stager said the noise of rain pounding the store&rsquo;s roof was nothing new, but this time was a little different.
				As he told the story, Stager said the sound kept getting louder and louder. Then a side window violently blew in and Stager said he yelled to the other four people in the store to stay away from the front windows and to seek cover.
				He said the back wall of the store just blew off.
				Stager guided those nearest to him toward an information desk, likely helping save co-workers from serious injuries. Stager said he later returned to the front of the store, and the employees safely made their way out of the building, all without a scratch.
				Stager was named the company&rsquo;s Above & Beyond national winner, which recognizes employees who go the extra mile. He received an all-expenses-paid trip to New York City, where he was recognized by senior leaders of Barnes & Noble.
				As brave as Stager was that night, I&rsquo;m sure he doesn&rsquo;t want to ever experience anything like that again.
				Neither does anybody else.
				The recovery effort following the tornado was long and deliberate. It took many of the businesses several months to reopen. The Wilkes-Barre Township Commons is an empty tract of land right now. It&rsquo;s where Panera Bread once stood along with other successful businesses.
				The Arena Hub Plaza, under the leadership of developer Robert Tamburro, made a remarkable comeback. The plaza is one of the busiest in the region.
				It shows that we can come back from adversity. But there is more concern with this pandemic.
				It&rsquo;s not a matter of just fixing buildings and passing inspections. This comeback has to do with the public health.
				We have to rely on the medical and scientific experts to guide us through to a new beginning.
				It will happen. We just don&rsquo;t know how long it&rsquo;s going to take.

Coping with Corona: Windstorm adds misery no one needs now