EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (CN) — It could be any rural town in America.
A large sign directs visitors to enjoy the schools, churches, businesses, library and park. Driving in, the rolling farmland gradually shifts to single-family homes. That turns into a small downtown with a smattering of stores and restaurants. Ever present, it seems like at least once an hour, there’s a freight train passing by.
Aside from some of the ubiquitous national chains like McDonald’s, Dairy Queen, Pizza Hut and Rite Aid, local businesses dominate: your groceries come from Gorby’s, there’s lunch at Dogs on the Run and dinner at Sprinklz on Top.
This is East Palestine, Ohio.
As the national spotlight descended on the hamlet of less than 5,000 residents on Friday, the question was about what defines this town. But when you hear the people talk, three dates take center stage: Feb. 2, 2023; Feb. 3, 2023; and Feb. 16, 2024.
The first date represents the day that East Palestine residents’ lives forever changed. The second — now etched in everyone’s consciousness — was the date of the toxic Norfolk Southern train derailment. The final day marks President Joe Biden’s first visit to the village.
Feb. 2, 2023
Although she finds it hard to believe, Sue Libert has lived in East Palestine for 60 years. Fondly remembering her younger years, she points out that the village park was the place to be in the summer.
Libert calls her hometown “pretty quiet,” while Robert Helbeck, senior minister at First Church of Christ, knows it as “just a small town.”
“It’s always been a pretty quiet town,” Libert said. “You could walk downtown at night without worrying.”
City Manager Chad Edwards is more of a newcomer, starting his job in November 2023 after moving from West Virginia. But in that time, he’s found East Palestine to be “very warm, friendly and inviting.”
“It’s home for me,” he said. “It could be home for anybody.”
Timothea Deeter is another lifelong resident who says her family has lived in the area for more than 200 years.
“It was kind of cute and quaint,” she said. “It was a nice place to live … A year ago, no one knew where I was from.”
But change was coming down — and off — the tracks.
Feb. 3, 2023
Libert was laying on the couch on Feb. 3, 2023, when she heard what sounded like a tractor-trailer hitting the brakes hard. She didn’t think too much of it, until the smell arrived. It’s still hard to describe, she said, but called it a “sweet almond” smell.
What happened was that a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous materials derailed and crashed, precipitating long fires and evacuation orders.
Helbeck “didn’t notice until I heard all the sirens.” He and Libert saw a few emergency vehicles rush past. Then more. Then even more.
“In a little town like this, stuff like that doesn’t happen,” Libert said.
By Feb. 5, residents were being told to evacuate town. Deeter went to the nearby village of New Springfield, but “we came back when we ran out of supplies.”
“No one was prepared for this,” she said. “It was really traumatizing.”
People were able to return home by Feb. 9, but that’s when the chemical effects started to appear.
Deeter and her family reported headaches and difficulty breathing. Libert said local kids were getting frequent nosebleeds. But it was hard for East Palestine residents to tell what exactly was caused by the chemicals. They asked if a cough was because of flu season or perhaps the derailment? Was it a bug or did the chemicals cause vomiting?
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