May 5--One final word

This will probably be my final post. Last night we got power, and I have heard of others who have had their power restored today. We are all attempting to get back to some sort of a routine. There are a few more comments and stories I need to share before I sign off.

There were so many tornadoes in our area on April 27 that the authorities are still discovering areas of destruction in remote areas of our state. They are still plotting routes of “minor” tornadoes that they have not had time to look at until now. More and more of these will be brought to light in the next few weeks, I am sure. We are far from seeing the end of the destruction.

There are large burn piles all over our area, and the air is filled with smoke. Due to the imposed curfew, we had not been out after dark since the storms. Last night when we returned from Bible study, we passed the glow of fires in the darkness where a couple of weeks ago there had been houses with lights on inside. The landscape in our area is forever changed.

Prior to the storms, we had already welcomed the hummingbirds to our area and had enjoyed watching them. We have not seen any since that day. They are so tiny and fragile, we fear that they are “gone with the wind”. Hopefully, there are others who will come to our area in the spring and summer.

With power returning, we brought Olen’s parents back home from the motel this morning. They had walked from the motel to Cracker Barrel for breakfast and had discussed with each other the storms, how thankful they were, and how they had managed with the days of power-loss. As they left the restaurant, a stranger stopped them and handed them a $20 bill. They tried to return it, but he told them that he had overheard their conversation and had come from Kentucky to help those in need. He decided to start his “helping” with them!

Olen has added some information to this blog that he thought might be of interest. This is a map of our immediate vicinity and the storm’s path of destruction. As usual, we do not mention last names, but many of you know the people mentioned.
This picture shows the tornado path as it passed by the French Mill area and East Limestone High School area. At this point it is estimated that the path was 1/2 mile wide with winds around 200+ mph (EF5). The highway along the bottom of the picture is US 72. The white lines are the approximate borders of major destruction. Basically, all of the subdivisions within the path were destroyed. Almost all of the houses were total losses.

Locations of interest are identified by the following codes:
ELHS – East Limestone High School (minor damage to bldgs, moderate damage to ballfields)
BCC – Bethel Church of Christ (totally destroyed)
DL – home of Daniel and Rebecca (totally destroyed)
GC – home of Gary and Debby (almost all trees lost, minor damage to house)
SC – home of Shirley (totally destroyed)
BB – home of Barry and Tabatha (minor limb damage)
OB – home of Olen and Jane (no damage)
EB – home of Eugene and Madelene (no damage)
NW – home of Norm and Barbara Jo (for reference)
KB – home of Keith and Mary Jo (for reference)

Electrical power was off until Tuesday or Wednesday for most of the area within the picture.

On the north side of the Bethel Church of Christ property, Channel 48 (WAFF) had a weather radar dome on a tower. A camera on the tower was showing the approaching tornado until it was blown away by the storm.
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I have posted information about the wedding photos we found. So far I have heard from a lady who was married on that date, but she is not the bride in the picture. If I am contacted by the “real” bride, I will add another note to this blog. Unless something really important comes up, this will be my final post. I hope this has helped those of you who have been concerned about your friends in our area. We have, indeed, been through a terrifying experience. But, our family is alive and well and very thankful. We can’t forget…

…the meteorologists in our area who gave us prior warning so we could prepare and get ourselves to a place of safety. ..

…the policemen who put their lives in danger driving down country roads with sirens blaring to warn us of another approaching tornado after our power went out and we had no other warnings…

…the thousands of volunteers who helped neighbors (or people they did not even know!) dig out of the rubble…

…the volunteers who grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and gave them away to victims and volunteers…

…the policemen and National Guard who protected our area of destruction…

…the offers for help and assistance from other states…

…the many employees of utility companies from our area and other states (at least one truck from Lakeland, Florida my hometown!) who worked long, tiring hours to restore power to the area…

But, most of all we will never forget the grace of God for sparing as many of us as He did on that day of terror. We are grateful to Him for the care, protection, love, and patience He gives to all of us every day. May those who lost loved ones in the storms be comforted in the fact that God is always in charge and we must remain faithful to Him in every situation of life. May we all be reminded a little more about the uncertainty of life, and how, in a moment’s time, it is possible be taken from all of this that we currently know.

“The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” Psalm 24:1

Wednesday, May 4---One week later...

The tornadoes hit a week ago today…or was it a lifetime ago…or perhaps a terrible dream?

Today dawned bright, clear, sunny and cold! It was 45 degrees at 7 AM when we got up and began our day.
We cranked up the noisy (but necessary) generator that has given a small degree of power to our house and Barry and Tabatha’s house for the past week. Since many people have power now, there are plenty of generators to be loaned to those still without power. Daryl and Bonny loaned us their butane-powered single-burner, and I prepared cups of tea for Olen and me as we started the events of the day. (Note my handy but questionably fashionable red flashlight-necklace.)

We listened to the 8:30 AM daily briefing from the Huntsville authorities. Water systems are back to normal, and 98% of the customers in Madison County have their power restored. They reported that those who are still without power might have to wait a “couple more days” to get power back, and they reminded us that when we do get power, we must be extremely conservative with the use of electricity.

Olen went to Lowes yesterday and bought four more solar lamps. We put them outside all day to absorb the rays so we could have lights in the house tonight.

A motel room became available in Athens late yesterday, and we convinced Olen’s parents to move to the motel where they would have lights, TV, hot water for bathing, and heat for these couple of days when it is predicted to get so cold. The motel is right next door to the Cracker Barrel (their favorite) so we felt really good about them being there. This morning they called for us to come and get them and bring them back home, but after being home where it was cold with no power, they quickly decided we could take them back to the motel!

While Olen prepared his Bible lesson for tonight, I went to Norm and Barbara Jo’s house where I enjoyed a nice, long, hot shower…only my second shower in a week. While I was there, I washed and dried a load of clothes for Mom and Pap.

Olen and I have tried to eat one good meal each day, so we went out for our “meal of the day” and then took advantage of Mom and Pap being at the motel and went over to their house and cleaned out their refrigerator, disposing of all of the food that was no longer edible.

At 4:25 this afternoon we marked one week since the horrible storm went through this area. The black, threatening skies of last week have been replaced by sunny, clear weather today. We have baby birds in a nest on our satellite TV pole.The roses are blooming, and this morning I saw a newborn calf in the pasture just down the road. Life goes on.

We have really done very well this past week. Being without power has required some adjustments, but today the trucks were working very near our house. We knew it would not be long. About 6 PM, right before we left to go to Bible study, I noticed lights on in the kitchen. We have electricity! Life is good. Really, it is. We have so very much to be thankful for…and now we can add electricity to our “thankful” list.

Does anyone want to buy a solar yard light or two? Only slightly used .

May 3--Learning to adjust

Last night we were close to electricity…if you are counting “close”. We could see lights about a mile down the road from us. By now we are pretty sure that our electricity at our house is routed through the hardest-hit area, so it may be a while yet. We are patient.

In the “We-should-have-thought-of-this-earlier” category, we have two solar lights at the end of our driveway. They power up during the daylight and stay lit for eight hours at night. Last night we pulled up those lights and brought them inside the house and stuck one in a fruit bowl in the kitchen and another in a container in the sunroom and we had two rooms with light! Unfortunately, we have had showers and rain during the night and off and on all day today, so we probably can’t count on solar power to help us tonight.

Another survival tactic we have worked out is wearing a small flashlight on a chain around our necks. This is handy and helpful when walking into a closet, pantry, or bathroom after dark…or even during the daytime. Perhaps we should write a book…

We are now accustomed to listening to the 8:30 AM “briefing” by the local authorities to start our day. The curfew is still in effect, but hopefully will be lifted in a day or two. Today they reported that at one time Madison County had 450,000 homes and businesses without power, and now there are “only” 98,000 in the dark. Our explosion of tornadoes has now officially made history. Last Wednesday we had more tornadoes in a single day than any other day in history (312 across the south).

Athens Bible School started back today, and many of the other area schools will start tomorrow. The reports I have heard was that it was a successful day, considering everything. They started the day by having the entire student body in the lunchroom for a sausage and biscuit, and giving the children time to re-greet their friends, talk about the storm to each other, and relax. This was followed by the a chapel service for grades K-12 all together. Then the teachers had time in their classrooms, but some of the elementary teachers wisely allowed each student to tell his or her story before trying to attempt academics. Teachers were instructed to be patient, to listen to the children, and to have a homework-free week to help the children get re-adjusted.

We have received many calls and contacts from wonderful people who have volunteered their time, funds, and supplies for the victims. We spent the morning at Norm and Barbara Jo’s house trying to match up offers with those who have needs. At this point the situation is this: Those who lost everything have packed up what they could salvage, and have walked away from their home sites. Those who have had partial losses have their property under tarps and are waiting for the rain to stop. Some are waiting for insurance adjusters to get to them. We have asked for Christians in the area who have needs to respond, and are waiting to see who we hear from. Many families have moved in with friends and relatives who have homes that were not hit, or homes where power has been restored. At this point, most people are in a holding pattern.

We stayed at Barbara Jo and Norm’s house today because Emily is not well. The doctor thinks that the tornado brought in some allergen she is highly allergic to, so she is on medication and trying to ride it out. We stayed with her today while her parents continued with their school and church responsibilities.

Since we were at Barbara Jo and Norm’s house using the internet today, I managed to wash a week’s worth of dirty clothes. We had a warm sandwich for lunch since we were enjoying their electricity. Life is good…and I really mean that.

The rain has brought in a cold front, which presents other problems. It was 83-degrees (outside AND inside our house!) when we went to bed last night. It was 53 when we woke up this morning, and the temperature has been dropping all day. By tomorrow night the low is expected to be 39. If we don’t have power back by then we will be piling the winter blankets back on the bed.

There are no photos today. Everyone is familiar with what a cold, overcast, rainy day looks like.

Did someone say it is the month of May?

Are you sure??

May 2-- Wedding, Tornadoes, Ben Laden

A week ago today U.S. reporters and newsmen were gearing up for the “story of the year”--the royal wedding. Then, on Wednesday the “story of the year” became the devastating tornadoes in Alabama and the southeast. Late last night the “story of the year” became the killing of Osama Ben Laden. How quickly the world events can change!

Last night after dinner we treated the entire family to an hour of TV so we could all watch one of our favorite shows, “The Amazing Race”. My engineer-type husband did some wizardry with the generator power and set up a mini-sub-station on my kitchen floor to make this happen. After the families went home, we kept the TV hooked up and we were able to get the news about Osama Ben Laden, but we finished listening to the broadcast on our battery-operated radio to save generator fuel.

Bonny called about 9 PM to tell us that their power had just been restored. Much glee.

For us, today is the fifth day after the storms, and 5 ½ days without power. The authorities are now telling us that the tornado that came through our area was a EF5 level (210 mph winds) when it went through Hackelburg, but when it reached our area in East Limestone it was an EF4, with winds of “only” 190 mph. The path was ¾ mile wide. So far there have been 250 deaths in the state, but only four of those were in Limestone County.

We are expecting (hoping for) garbage pickup tomorrow, so this morning we dumped all of the refrigerator “staples” like mustard, ketsup, salsa, jelly, etc. and disinfected the refrigerator in anticipation of getting power back eventually. I have been 5 days without a cup of tea, so I took my cup and a tea bag over to Barry’s house where they have a propane burner on their patio, and I was happy to find that Tabatha had already boiled some water for her instant coffee. I walked back to my house with my cup of tea. Slowly…very slowly…we are doing fairly normal things.

Most of the schools in Madison and Limestone Counties will still be out for another couple of days, but ABS will open again tomorrow, beginning at 9 PM. They plan start the day with chapel, and I imagine it will be a very difficult day with the children so upset, but they have to start somewhere. Slowly they are restoring some power in Madison County, and a few places in Limestone County, but those who have power are urged to conserve electricity and leave their air conditioners turned off. Yesterday’s newspaper listed only 14 restaurants in all of Huntsville that were open for business. There are more restaurants open in Athens, since the city of Athens was west of the major damage area.

Many of the colleges and universities in the affected areas of the state have decided to just end the semester an allow the students to walk away with the grades they had earned before last Wednesday. There is no really good solution.

Many have asked how Olen’s parents are doing. They are managing fairly well. We check on them several times each day and try to make sure they have one really good meal each day, and plenty of cereal and fruit to snack on the other times. We have a generator at their house keeping their refrigerator and freezer working, but other than that, they are “in the dark” like the rest of us. Pap sits on the front porch and reads using the daylight we have. We took them to Cracker Barrel for the noon meal today. The line was not too terribly long, but we went early.

On the drive home we had to come through the area of really bad damage. Crews from Georgia and Tennessee and other states are helping out by working on putting up new power poles and stringing wires. While we were driving down McCulley Mill Road, Olen stopped and picked up something that turned out to be a photo album full of 4 x 6 photos of a wedding that took place on April 12, 2003. We brought the album home and I removed 40 damp (but still usable) photos from the album and have them drying on my buffet. I understand that there is a Facebook page where people are matching up lost and found items. There may be updates on this part of the story.

It is warm today…in the mid-eighties. We are beginning to miss our air conditioning, but I have only to look ¼ mile down the road from me to remember that being a little warm and uncomfortable is a really a very small thing!

It did not rain yesterday, but tonight we are supposed to get rain, with some storms tonight and tomorrow. There could be a few high winds, and thunder and lightening in these storms, but no severe weather. Still, this could be a traumatizing event, especially for the children.

May 1, Sunday--A day of worship and thanksgiving

It is Day #5 after the storm, but more importantly, it is the Lord’s Day and a day of worship and giving thanks. The bright, blue skies and sunshine of Friday and Saturday have turned into overcast skies with rain forecast for later today, tomorrow, and the next day. I am sure the people who are attempting to save what is left of their houses are rushing to get tarps on their roofs.

The news of this morning gave us notices of several changes. Still no power. We have lower water pressure due to the power system, and Limestone County residents have been asked to conserve water. The good signs are that some telephone land lines are working, if you happen to have one of the old-style telephones that doesn‘t require electricity. FEMA representatives are now in our area making assessments. We have been told that there are 4,000 workers concentrating on restoring power to parts of north Alabama. We understand that the dusk-to-dawn curfew has been changed to 9 PM to 5 AM, giving us a little longer time to get home from a hot shower or a hot meal.

The National Guard is no longer supervising our roads, so we can get in and out of our area without showing proof of residency. This may be because we have had two good-weather days for the residents to comb through the debris and move out whatever items are salvageable, so there is nothing of any value left for the National Guard to protect.

The National Weather Service is studying the storms and currently their thinking is that there were seven major tornadoes in Alabama. The one that went through our area has been categorized as an EF4; the one in Hackelburg was EF5. This could change as they study the storm paths further.

Someone picked up Mom and Pap and took them to worship at Hays Mill this morning. They have power at their church building. Our worship service was scheduled for 9:00, with an abbreviated service. However, we had a large crowd, and met in the dark with the doors open to the outside. Apparently it is possible to have a worship service with no lights, no air conditioning, no public address system, and no powerpoint! We sang “Count Your Blessings”, observed the Lord’s Supper, and heard a brief, appropriate, and inspiring lesson from Greg. .

It was good to see the students, especially the ones from Tuscaloosa. Nearly everyone in the congregation has had damage to their property, or at least trees down. Only one or two families have any power at their house, so we can’t be much help to each other. Individual Christians from Tennessee brought supplies to share with those affected by the tornadoes, and we were encouraged to take home supplies with us when we left the building.

Our young people were extremely upset over the loss of Marcus Smith. Marcus was a Christian, and a student at the University of Alabama. He has been missing and assumed dead since he has not been heard of since the tornadoes hit Tuscaloosa on Wednesday. There has been some confusion as to whether his body has been found or not. It has been reported that there were four students at the university with that name, and two of the four have been missing since the storms hit. Marcus’ girlfriend, Katie, grew up with our young people who attend worship services with us.

But, there is always a little good news. This morning Susan (who is currently on tour in Israel), asked Steve (who is also on that tour) to call our son-in-law, Norm, to tell him to get a message to Olen to tell Shirley that a replacement vehicle is currently being driven to Limestone County from Tennessee for Shirley! That message came halfway around the world and through several hands, but was joyous news to Shirley.

After the worship service we treated ourselves to a meal at the Sweet Pepper’s Deli, which had power. After lunch we decided to go to a fiftieth anniversary reception that was scheduled for this afternoon. We figured not too many people would be able to make it, and wanted to make sure we were there to mark the occasion. We were pleased with the turnout. As we left the reception, we drove past Athens State University where the flags were at half-staff in honor of those in the state who have perished in the tornadoes.

Our dinner plan is to again go to Barbara Jo and Norm’s house, since they are the only ones in the family with power. Daryl is preparing some of his famous “Smokin’Chief” brisket for our sandwiches. I was assigned to get the buns and cheese. This required a stop at Publix on the way home from the reception. Unfortunately, as you can see, the bread aisle was nearly bare, with no buns at all. (Everyone must be grilling the meat they have that is thawing!) However, kudos to Publix! They had set up a charging station right as you enter the store where people could go and charge their cell phones for free. They had completely rearranged the store so the charcoal, paper plates, potato chips, paper towels, cans of tuna, and other basic supplies were on the end caps of the aisles and easy to locate.

Bonny went to Wal-Mart to try to locate buns. There was no air conditioning, and there were no frozen foods or chilled items at all. An employee told her that the store was operating on a generator, and they were conserving power by turning off the air conditioning and storage cases in the cold areas to conserve power so they could stay open.

We plan to eat dinner at Barbara Jo and Norm’s house and watch “The Amazing Race” before calling it a day. While I am there, I will use some of their power to make this post. It is warm today, so we will be sleeping with the windows open again. Pray for those who are suffering and grieving.

Tomorrow is another day.