10 years ago

Watch this when you have 6 minutes. (If you can't watch the video, you can scroll the thumbnail pictures instead).

On April 8, 1998, an F-5 tornado struck an area west of Birmingham, and did horrific damage and caused many fatalities. James and I lived literally just down the road about a half-mile from a great deal of the homes that were destroyed. Reminiscing over that night and the following months of recovery really remind me of how fortunate we are to have escaped any damage to our home or health, and his entire family, who lives in the same area, were also blessed and totally unharmed. During the storm, James and I were home together, and we huddled in our tiny house, with his arms wrapped around me, and I cried while he prayed aloud that God would protect us. The noise of that tornado was louder than a train bearing down on us, though that is the closest metaphor I can use to describe the overwhelming sound as it neared, and then passed by us. Since James was then working full-time as a paramedic, he was called in to work that night as soon as we knew the tornado had passed. He stood and directed traffic on the main highway in the rain all night till sunrise, as relief efforts began, and folks tried to find loved ones.

When he came home that next morning and I was preparing to leave for work, he said he really didn't want me to go to work. I asked if it was because it would be difficult to drive through that area, as far as obstacles on the road were concerned, or what. He replied that the roads were clear, but that it was going to be very emotional, because the neighborhoods all along the highway were so devastated. He was right. I sobbed as I saw the aftermath of that storm. I will never get over the way it looked then, and for weeks and weeks following, as National Guard convoys lined the highway and worked all hours of the day, trying to do rescue and recovery. The rebuilding did eventually happen, but lives were lost and changed forever as a result. This video by the Birmingham News is well-done and shows footage of what we witnessed for so long afterwards. It's humbling to realize we were spared when those just over the hill were not, and that many of you have witnessed similar and worse events through hurricanes and other disasters. What a powerful God we have, who can control the sun and storms, and gives us shelter from them - both weather-related storms, and the struggles of life.