The Amish Rebuild Homes So Fast That The National Weather Service Isn't Able to Determine The Strength of Tornadoes

BRANCH COUNTY, Mich. – As tornadoes tore through parts of the Midwest during a recent severe weather outbreak, communities in Southwest Michigan and Northern Indiana were already in recovery mode minutes after the twisters struck, presenting a challenge for National Weather Service meteorologists in determining the exact strength of these forces of nature.

According to the weather agency, the quick recovery appeared to happen in Amish communities, where residents had already repaired shingles and roofs before the meteorologists could survey the damage, such as in Branch County, Michigan.

Remarkably, less than 48 hours after the tornado passed, residents were seen replacing shingles, and one barn appeared to have a reconstructed roof.

"The wind speed could not be estimated due to repairs already completed," the NWS stated in a storm survey, which is used to determine a tornado’s strength on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.

I never pass up on an opportunity to blog about the Amish. As a person who grew up frequently driving 60mph past Amish families in their horse and buggies in the freezing cold en route to my grandparent's house, I consider myself a bit of an Amish expert. My first pair of ice skates were actually purchased from an Amish general store. My heathenistic family once accosted an Amish family in their home over Christmas. We just showed up and knocked on their door out the blue. No warning at all. Not that you can call ahead or anything. But my dad went to high school with some Amish folk, and apparently at some point in his life, this one particular Amish named Menow told him "Your family should stop by some time". So one day when we driving by my dad just did it. Menow had at least 12 kids. My brothers and I sat in their living room in rocking chairs just staring at them as our dads made small talk. Aside from that, there was also a younger Amish women who babysat for my cousins sometimes. I interacted with her once or twice. She used to watch TV in my cousin's living room. I remember thinking that was kinda cheating. In hindsight, I feel like that was too much of distraction for a young Amish woman when she's supposed to be closely watching young children.

"Ok we'll be back in 5 hours. Your $0.50 is on the table. Please keep our kids alive. Also, here's access to all the modern day technologies you've always dreamed of having and now are finally left completely unchecked with. Knock yourself out."

But one thing I've never considered about the Amish is how resilient they are to natural disasters. When it comes to weather events that Amish should be concerned with, tornadoes are probably further down the list than a 20-degree day. That's the thing about refusing to embrace electricity. Or indoor plumbing. Or zippers. Or buttons. Or mustaches. Or anything that's the slightest bit entertaining. Or anything that would make a person's life easier in any way shape or form. If you don't believe in such material things, then you don't have any material things to lose. Amish don't even have pictures taken of themselves. If you were Amish, and a tornado demolished your Amish home, the next morning you'd just emerge from your basement into a brand new one. The community would have it re-built by sunrise. Anything sentimental you own, you'd have brought into the basement with you. My point is, if you drive though a regular, non-Amish small town a week after a devastating tornado, it would look like a devastating tornado just ripped through. But if you drive through an Amish town the week after a tornado… it would look like Ty Pennington just ripped through. That would be a solid B- joke in 2007.

After the Amish are done fixing up each other's homes, they'll be on to fixing up the homes of their non-Amish neighbors. One thing about Amish is that they're going to help your ass out. If you live within 20 miles of them, and the roof blows off your home, a van full of Amish will appear within 24 hours. They won't fix your roof for free. Honestly, they'll probably think they're the ones getting one over on you. When a crew of 10 Amish men build you a brand new roof in 4 hours and charge you $500… they'll walk away laughing. For them it's nothing. For you it's nothing. It's really the perfect relationship. There's nothing better than living in an Amish community. There are no downsides. Except for horse poop. But you'll get used to the horse poop. The Amish are just good folk. Plain and simple. Probably. At least that's what I've gathered from the brief interactions I've had with them. At minimum, there's nobody you'd rather have as a neighbor in the aftermath of a tornado.