October 27, 2011…six months after the tornadoes devastated our area. When we looked at the total destruction on April 27, we could not imagine that there would ever be a sense of “normal” in our area again.
However, time is a great healer. Today we are making the transition from fall into winter, unlike the transition from winter into spring we made six months ago. We have made it through an unpredictable spring, a hot summer, and a colorful fall. The hummingbirds have come, spent the summer in our area, and have now left to fly across the Gulf of Mexico to their winter home. Time moves on.
We have new power poles in our area, and our generator is stored in the barn. (Hopefully we won’t need it again any time soon.) The landscape near our house has changed. We can see many objects at a distance much better due to all of the trees that were blown away in the tornado. Most of the trees that survived the tornado were stripped of their leaves and branches. Those trees are attempting to live by putting out short, stubby branches that make the trees look like huge bottle-brushes stuck in the ground.
Right down the road from us, one homeowner whose house was leveled in the tornado, set up a camper and lived on his property for 6-8 weeks after his home was destroyed. He has never attempted to rebuild, but is no longer living in the camper.
The Bethel Church of Christ, which was a direct hit on April 27, has begun building a new place to worship not too far away.
On lots and in subdivisions there are many concrete driveways that lead to nowhere. At one point in time these driveways led to garages or houses that no longer exist.
Our friend, Shirley, has moved into a new house; has replaced her car, furniture and personal belongings, and is doing well. She bought a grandfather clock to put in her foyer to replace the clock that was stopped at 4:27 the day the tornado hit her house.
The subdivision where Daniel and Rebecca lived is rebuilding. We have watched with interest as the houses have been built. Nearly every house has a safe room constructed before anything else is added! Daniel and Rebecca have moved to another location, deciding not to rebuild in the same area.
The wedding pictures we found after the storm were never claimed, even though I listed them on the website that has matched up many “found” photos with owners. At one point WHNT-TV heard about the pictures and did a feature article about them, trying to locate the owners. Sadly, one of these days the photos will become the victim of one of my “cleaning-out” rages.
Today WAFF-TV “flipped the switch” to turn on their new, more powerful radar just a mile from our house. It is in the same location as the original radar tower, but this one is reported to be much more powerful. This photo was taken just minutes before the new radar went “on line” and they were set up to broadcast from that location. It was from the original radar on that site that we watched with horror as the EF-5 tornado headed directly toward the tower…and us.
We will always remember the people who helped and worked tirelessly to aid people they did not even know. We are personally grateful to the three young men who drove from North Carolina with chain saws and tools. Each morning they took our list of names and addresses of people who needed help, and drove around our area offering help, taking nothing in return.
Time heals, but the scars will be with us for a long time. Two hundred and forty-eight people in Alabama are no longer on this earth to be a part of the healing. The lives of their loved ones are forever changed and this six-month anniversary brings them a special type of remembering. Our thoughts and prayers are with those people today.
And we are thankful that we are here to write an update to this blog. Any of us could have been among the 248. We will never forget…
However, time is a great healer. Today we are making the transition from fall into winter, unlike the transition from winter into spring we made six months ago. We have made it through an unpredictable spring, a hot summer, and a colorful fall. The hummingbirds have come, spent the summer in our area, and have now left to fly across the Gulf of Mexico to their winter home. Time moves on.
We have new power poles in our area, and our generator is stored in the barn. (Hopefully we won’t need it again any time soon.) The landscape near our house has changed. We can see many objects at a distance much better due to all of the trees that were blown away in the tornado. Most of the trees that survived the tornado were stripped of their leaves and branches. Those trees are attempting to live by putting out short, stubby branches that make the trees look like huge bottle-brushes stuck in the ground.
Right down the road from us, one homeowner whose house was leveled in the tornado, set up a camper and lived on his property for 6-8 weeks after his home was destroyed. He has never attempted to rebuild, but is no longer living in the camper.
The Bethel Church of Christ, which was a direct hit on April 27, has begun building a new place to worship not too far away.
On lots and in subdivisions there are many concrete driveways that lead to nowhere. At one point in time these driveways led to garages or houses that no longer exist.
Our friend, Shirley, has moved into a new house; has replaced her car, furniture and personal belongings, and is doing well. She bought a grandfather clock to put in her foyer to replace the clock that was stopped at 4:27 the day the tornado hit her house.
The subdivision where Daniel and Rebecca lived is rebuilding. We have watched with interest as the houses have been built. Nearly every house has a safe room constructed before anything else is added! Daniel and Rebecca have moved to another location, deciding not to rebuild in the same area.
The wedding pictures we found after the storm were never claimed, even though I listed them on the website that has matched up many “found” photos with owners. At one point WHNT-TV heard about the pictures and did a feature article about them, trying to locate the owners. Sadly, one of these days the photos will become the victim of one of my “cleaning-out” rages.
Today WAFF-TV “flipped the switch” to turn on their new, more powerful radar just a mile from our house. It is in the same location as the original radar tower, but this one is reported to be much more powerful. This photo was taken just minutes before the new radar went “on line” and they were set up to broadcast from that location. It was from the original radar on that site that we watched with horror as the EF-5 tornado headed directly toward the tower…and us.
We will always remember the people who helped and worked tirelessly to aid people they did not even know. We are personally grateful to the three young men who drove from North Carolina with chain saws and tools. Each morning they took our list of names and addresses of people who needed help, and drove around our area offering help, taking nothing in return.
Time heals, but the scars will be with us for a long time. Two hundred and forty-eight people in Alabama are no longer on this earth to be a part of the healing. The lives of their loved ones are forever changed and this six-month anniversary brings them a special type of remembering. Our thoughts and prayers are with those people today.
And we are thankful that we are here to write an update to this blog. Any of us could have been among the 248. We will never forget…
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