Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Tornado

I've been offline for a couple of days. My little pint sized city of Clay was hit hard by a tornado before daylight Monday morning. I went down to the basement, because if there is anything we all learned from last April's terrible tornadoes, it was don't ignore the warnings. I think it was because of that lesson learned and the grace of God that there were only 2 fatalities in the whole county. The tornado has been determined to have been a F-3 with winds of 150 miles per hour.

I thought it was a non event because it was barely raining at my house and I heard no wind at all. My sister lives only 3 minutes away. Her neighborhood seems to have been the last hit before the tornado lifted and didn't set down again until it was out of the county...we are on the northern edge of Jefferson County.

Over 200 homes in our tiny town were damaged or destroyed. I think I read that there are 500 damaged or destroyed homes county wide. One elderly man lost his life on the opposite side of the county and sadly, one teenager lost her life on our side.

My sister and her husband are fine. They lost 7 trees, but none fell on their home. In fact, theirs is the only home in that neighborhood without structural damage.

We have a lot to be thankful for here in Alabama this week. It is heartening to hear about and to see the number of volunteers who have poured in to help those in need. Area churches have opened their doors as shelters and are serving meals to victims and volunteers alike. But, please remember to say a prayer for those two families who lost their loved ones and for those who've lost their homes.

15 comments:

  1. I'm so sorry, Stevie! How traumatic to see all of that devastation around you. Very hard. Glad you are all ok. xo

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  2. Oh, I am so sorry to hear this.:(( After living in NC I have a huge respect for tornadoes and any kind of severe weather phenomenon. Glad your loved ones are fine...
    As for the northern lights, I looked and looked. I looked the whole drive home and peeked out towards the north throughout the evening, but I guess the sightings here were not as stunning and one had to be way out of the city to see them. So, Aurora Borealis is still something I have yet to experience.;))
    xoxo

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  3. Thank goodness you and your family are ok. Prayers going out to those who lost loved ones.

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  4. Oh my goodness! I'm so glad you and your family are okay! I didn't even know about this...I've been out of touch with the news the last couple of weeks. We had some crazy here last week, too, but nothing like that. So scary!

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  5. OMG Stevie. I am so glad that you and yours are alright. You bet I will be saying prayers for everyone.

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  6. So glad the loss of life was not worse .. everything else can be replaced ..

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  7. How horrible to see such destruction around you but I'm so glad to hear that you and yours are okay. Hugs and best thoughts coming your way.

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  8. Oh my, Stevie, how scary and horrible! I heard there were tornadoes in Alabama this past week but I never realized ir happened in your neighborhood. I am so glad you and your sister are ok and I will pray for those who were affected by this terrible tragedy.

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  9. Hi Steph

    I am glad that you and your family are safe and unscathed...but saddened to hear of loss of life and damage. Now that the world had shrunk we seem to hear of disasters of all varieties on a regular basis... SE Qld is once again suffering flooding in many areas. It has rained heavily over the past 10 days and more is expected...so humid...as you can imagine... A tornado must be a terrifying experience.
    You get into that basement pronto when you hear a warning issued!

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  10. Relieved that you and yours are okay. I read about a young woman who was found in her bed removed by that tornado and looked as if she was sleeping still but had perished. That had an affect I can tell you and set me off worrying. Have a thought that goes like this - whenever disaster strikes, anywhere, if all the people connected with those in the affected area have loving and caring thoughts and prayers joining up then there can be a canopy of stars in the heavens and a web of safety netting below. If only, but perhaps . . .

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  11. Gosh, so glad y'all are OK! Prayers for all those suffering after the tornado, though. I've only actually been through one tornado and that was years ago. My goodness those things scare me. Y'all stay safe out there.
    Luv fom Georgia,
    Pamela

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  12. خدمات ابوظبى
    -تعتبر المجالس من اهم الاسياء الموجودة بالمنزل لان من الضرورى استخدامها يوميا ومع كثرة الاستخدام تتسخ ويصبح مظهرها غير لائق وتضفى شكل ومظهر غير جمالى وغير صحى لذلك فنحن شركات تنظيف الكنب ابوظبىنتشرف ان نقدم لكم شركة تنظيف موكيت فىابوظبىبافضل الطرق الحديثة وهى التنظيف بالبخار

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