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IF YOU WIND BACK THE CLOCK, THIS WAS GROUND ZERO HERE IN MARSHALLTOWN WHEN AN EF THREE TORNADO RIPPED THROUGH TOWN, DESTROYING MOST OF MAIN STREET. DRIVING AROUND DOWNTOWN MARSHALL TOWN, YOU MIGHT NOT REMEMBER THE DEVASTATION, THOUGH. THE SAME STREETS IMPASSABLE FIVE YEARS EARLIER. WE WALKED AROUND TOWN. YOU COULDN’T DRIVE PRETTY MUCH THROUGH DOWN RIGHT DOWNTOWN, BUT YOU COULD COME UP AND WALK AROUND AND TAKE A LOOK AT THE DAMAGE. THE NEXT DAY. AND IT WAS UNBELIEV. WE HAD BUILDINGS THAT LOOKED LIKE DOLL HOUSES THAT WERE CUT OPEN, THE BUILDINGS ALONG THE SQUARE WERE IN SHAMBLES. SOME HAVE BECOME GRASSY LOTS, WHILE OTHERS HAVE BEEN BROUGHT BACK TO LIFE. IT DOES HAVE NEW GLASS AND NEW HANDS MOST NOTICEABLY, THE MARSHALL COUNTY COURTHOUSE, WHERE THE SPIRE WAS BLOWN OFF THE CLOCK TOWER DURING THE STORM. AFTER THE TORNADO, WE PUT ALL NEW GLASS IN THE HANDS. PREVIOUSLY WERE WOOD AND THEY WERE PRETTY WELL DETERIORATED. AND I WAS IN THE BUILDING WHEN THE TORNADO HIT. COUNTY OFFICIALS HAVE BEEN WORKING IN TEMPORARY OFFICES FOR THE LAST FIVE YEARS, BUT JUST RECENTLY MOVED INTO THEIR NEW OFFICES WITH COURT PROCEEDINGS TO RETURN TO THE GRAND COURTROOM WITHIN WEEKS. AS THE FINAL DETAILS ARE HAMMERED INTO PLACE, THE PEOPLE OF MARSHALLTOWN CAN’T HELP BUT LOOK BACK AND HOLD A BIT OF PRIDE IN THEIR ABILITY TO REBUILD. HERE WE ARE FIVE YEARS LATER AND IT’S THERE ISN’T A TRUER STATEMENT. THERE ARE STILL SOME RECOVERY EFFORTS THAT ARE STILL IN PROGRESS. BUT THE PEOPLE WE TALKED TO SAY THAT TODAY WAS A DAY THAT THEY COULD FINALLY EXHALE IN MARSHALLTOWN, BE