The Southern part of our country has been hit unbelievably hard the past couple of days, from flooding to tornado's. Yesterday alone Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, West Virginia saw approximately 150+ tornado's, while in Missouri they are dealing with flooding. As of right now there have been 249 fatalities and hundreds of pictures of the massive devastation these storms left behind. One picture was so striking to me, so emotional for me the minute I looked at it I immediately began crying. The photo was so incredibly sad. It's a first responder in the back of a pick-up holding the body of a child they pulled from the rubble. The photo immediately took me back to 1995 in Oklahoma City and the Federal Murrah Building, after it had been bombed. The photo there was the firefighter carrying the body of an infant from the site. You can't help but cry when you look at this current photo.
4-27-11 Tornado Photos
Click on the link above to take you to the Huffington Post article, scroll down to the picture and click it. There you'll see a number of photos of the aftermath of these storms. There are 25 pictures and picture 15 is the most heartbreaking one of all of them. This is the photo of the responder holding the body of a child. It just breaks your heart.
I was a few months from turning three when the Super Outbreak of 1974 occurred, so I do not remember anything about it. That outbreak spawned 148 tornado's and killed 312 people. Yesterday alone spawned some 150+ tornadoes with reports still coming in and killed 250, with more reports of fatalities coming in. It is so unbelievable and the damage unimaginable, it really is beyond words.
I have only seen one tornado in my life, in July of 2000, in SW MN. It was a very brief tornado and was fairly tiny. I have never been in a tornado, so I couldn't even imagine what it's like. I did go into labor with my firstborn on the night that spawned the great Spencer, SD tornado on May 30, 1998. The system was heading to Sioux Falls, but weakened by the time it reached us. I have also seen the aftermath of a tornado, that same year, just two months earlier, March 30th, 1998, the St. Peter, MN tornado. We went through St. Peter a week after it hit and having been to St. Peter quite a bit in my earlier years, I was pretty familiar with the highway going through and parts of the city. Driving through there a week after the tornado hit was very emotional. There was so much devastation I couldn't even recognize where I was at in the town, other than the highway. You could completely see the college, Gustavus College, whereas before, because of all the trees, you could only see the point of the steeple. Very shocking to see how many trees were lost in that beautiful city.
The South will absolutely need the support of everyone in our country in some form or another. If you would like to help contact the American Red Cross to see what you can do. Please keep everyone in the affected areas in your prayers, now and in the future, as they will need them to heal.
The beauty of Tulips
