Let me begin by saying GOD IS GREAT. He is our refuge, our strength, our ever-present help in times of trouble. Not only that, but He is also Jehovah Jireh, our Provider, who is MORE than enough for me. He blesses us so much more than we deserve and is the Giver of all things good in our lives. I will praise Him no matter what! I praised Him in the storm, and I will praise Him no matter what the future holds, because I know He holds the future.
That was a lot of mixed-up scripture and song lyrics!
On April 27, 2011, the lives of most people in North and Central Alabama were turned upside down. The lives of 238 people in our state met an end on that day. We are saddened by the loss. Thousands of people lost their homes, businesses, possessions, etc. We are saddened by their loss. Thankfully, we did not suffer any losses of this magnitude. Marty's family lost a barn, a swimming pool cover, and part of a fence. My family lost a tree. Neighbors lost a little more. Some lost huge sheds, giant trees, and vehicles. Everyone lost electricity for many, many days. Ours was off for two whole weeks! We are still without phone service, considering our phone line is still laying in the road by the driveway and we have to run over it every day. But praise God, He spared all our loved ones and friends and our homes.
Our hometown of Cullman, AL, where I work and shop and do most business, was sliced in half. An EF4 tornado ripped through the heart of downtown on that day, taking with it many businesses, historic buildings, churches, and people's homes. The cityscape we have grown up with and lived with all our lives is forever changed. The world as we once knew it is now forever changed. The miracle is: we survived. The hardship is: the aftermath. Yes, some people lost their homes, possessions, or livelihoods, but most of us lost things such as food. Replaceable, yes, but at a cost. Some, like us, had generators, yes, but at a cost. And now the cleanup is underway...for some, at a great cost.
Financial cost is not the only problem we are encountering. Emotional cost is high as well. Even those, like me, who did not suffer through a large tornado and lots of damage, still are haunted by the images, haunted by the sounds, and haunted by the emptiness. Many people had trouble dealing with the darkness, especially that night. And most of us now cringe at the sight of thunderstorms on the radar. Our new best friends are our meteorologists and weather men, such as James Spann, Jason Simpson, J.P. Dice, and Wes Wyatt. We are so thankful we have them to keep an eye out for us. With our generator running at home, we were able to watch the whole day unfold on TV. Sometimes I wish we hadn't seen it. But we were blessed to be able to have access to the news on TV to keep up with where storms were and who in our families might be in danger, because so many people had no idea.
Thankfully, we only had to watch the aftermath of the tornadoes unfold for about 4 days. For 4 days we had to keep our generator running to have food. The first day or two gas was hard to come by. Many stations were out of power and unable to pump. The nearest place that had power was part of Athens, which is over an hour from our house. There was devastation all around. Gas stations slowly began cranking up generators so they could pump gas. Long lines were forming and some places started rationing. We had enough at home already to run the first day and night, but the next morning Marty was out early scouting the scene. He managed to find gas by lunchtime.
In the midst of all the madness, I was trying to finish school. I had 3 more days left in my internship, and of course schools were closed. They had no power, some had damage, and many roads were impassable. My high school gym, where I had P.E. class and watched many basketball games, had major roof damage. It was one of the first things I saw on TV, because it had happened that morning.
I had one more major assignment due, as well as a final exam. Even though I could use my laptop, it was sporadic, and some of the websites did not want to load the things I needed. In addition to all this, we were also preparing for a major trip to Canada and Alaska! A week that had already been filled with schooling to finish, business to conduct, doctor's appointments, and packing to do, saw complete infrastructure come to an abrupt halt. Never, at least in my lifetime, had it been so massive and widespread.
Looking back now, weeks later, we continue to see where the protective Hand of God was on us. Marty just checked out the woods on our property behind our house and discovered that 1/3 of the trees are gone. We have been in denial, but finally realize that a tornado definitely passed our house, not just straight-line winds. The paths around our property are obvious now that we can see them. Below I captured an image from a tornado damage map around our property. The blue circles represent areas of major wind damage, and that blue box goes all the way down the bluff behind our house in a STRAIGHT PATH. Our house is by the green square, UNTOUCHED. The only thing that happened was we lost a few shingles, a heavy wooden chair was sucked off our porch and blown onto a tree (both only scratched), the lawnmower moved several feet, a gutter wrapped around the back corner of the house, our garbage cans ended up in the fields, and our back Cleveland pear tree was snapped off. MINOR. Considering there was a TORNADO in our YARD and we didn't even know it!!!!!!
Please help us continue to pray for those who fell victim to this horrible, disastrous day. For a wonderful account of the events and emotions of the day from our local area, check out my friend Julie's blog, Our Family, The Martins, on my favorite blogs. And help us continue to praise God for all the miracles He has performed and continues to perform through this event.
