I'm praying today that many missing people in the aftermath of yesterday's tornado events in the US will be found alive today as daylight makes searching possible. We live in Alabama, and we spent all day listening carefully to all the weather news and went to our "safe place" in the basement for several hours yesterday evening. We had 3 wind events pass over us yesterday. The early morning one may have been a straight line event, but 2 tornadoes passed close to us last night. We were extremely fortunate, but we know people who lost everything. At least they are alive.
One of the hardest hit by the mile wide tornado that went across 3 states was Tuscaloosa, but it apparently did not hit the University of Alabama with any significant damage. The hospital in Tuscaloosa is working on emergency generators, and they are moving patients to other hospitals as soon as they can. Cullman was hit by 4 tornadoes yesterday! And the north side of the biggest city in the state, Birmingham, was also damaged badly. Areas south of Birmingham were also hit by the first wave of high wind events early yesterday morning. There have already been 131 confirmed deaths in the state, and I'm sure the number will go up. Over a million people in Alabama are without power today.
Our Huntsville daughter and her family are OK, except for not having power. One of our news reports said some transmission lines from the Brown's Ferry Nuclear Plant were hit, so it may be several days before they get their power back. We heard from them this morning, and they are grilling the food from the freezer. They'll be camping out for awhile it looks like. They are in the process of shutting down the nuclear plant, too, just as a safety precaution, so that will delay power to many as well.
We do know of one person raised in our church who lives in Pleasant Grove whose house doesn't have two sticks standing. All her family is safe. Praise God!
I do have many memories of terrible tornado events in all the years I've lived in Alabama, so maybe it's my age showing, but I don't think I've ever been as worried about tornado warnings as I was yesterday. You could just hear the urgency in the voice of the weather men - NOT the usual hype. So, we spent the day getting our basement place ready for us to spend the night, if necessary.
We have been so blessed, but I'm grieving for all those who have lost family members and hurting for those who cannot find their loved ones. I pray they feel the peace that only God can give in times like this.
5 comments:
My heart goes out to all who are experiencing this devastation. When I lived back east i remember the terror when a tornado hit three miles from our house and wiped out a small town.
Today I only have to worry about earthquakes and they are rare. :)
The death toll still rises, as one would expect. There are so many people who need prayers. Thanks for your kind heart, Jan.
I'm so pleased that you are safe. We just can't imagine what you've all been through.
Glad to hear you are safe. I feel so bad for all the people and families that lost everything they have to the tornadoes.
I would love to witness a tornado, but not in that way.
There are plenty of videos on the internet of the tornadoes, if you want to see them. I don't look at them intentionally, but I've seen some on our local news. That's enough for me.
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