More Tornado Stuff

Here's some more info that's being reported about the tornados:

- At this time, the main one is being rated an EF-3 (136-165 mph winds). However, more assessors are being sent out to survey the damage and there's a chance it could be upgraded to an EF-4 (166-200 mph winds)

- Path length of tornado: approximately 23 miles

- Path width of tornado: up to 1/2 mile

- The National Weather Service believes it was on the ground for more than 20 minutes with winds exceeding 150 mph

- A 2nd tornado hit the southern part of the city and had winds near 100 mph

- In all, 2 people were killed (a mother and her 9-week old daughter), 47 people were hurt, 94 homes and businesses were completely destroyed, 285 have major damage and 136 have minor damage

Source: http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=10171387, http://www.spc.noaa.gov/efscale/ef-scale.html


Here's a video a friend took from the 4th floor of her office building. It pretty much shows most of the tornado on the ground. The beginning and the end are a bit shaky, but the rest is good:



Also, Shad went to help with clean-up efforts on Saturday and took lots of pictures. Here's a link to my Facebook photo album that includes pictures of the completely destroyed home of one of our church members:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=240521&id=905785074&l=72be469b2f

The homeowner's wife was home with their daughter and 2 of the daughter's friends. The girls made it out okay, but the wife was trapped under debris and broke her back. She'll be undergoing surgery today, so please keep her in your prayers!

It's truly a miracle that more than 2 people weren't killed considering how many people were home for Good Friday!!! I just can't get over how powerful a tornado can be! In one specific picture, you'll see a house with the side wall gone; you can see the upstairs bedroom. Notice that the bed is still perfectly made! WOW! In another picture, the house across the lot from the totally destroyed house is only missing a shutter and some windows! Another WOW!

Another round of storms is supposed to come through the area sometime today. We're praying hard that they're not severe AT ALL!!! Starting Friday, Christopher became afraid of thunder...at least while we were loading into the vehicle. I really hope all these storms and tornados haven't left him with a fear of them now! He's been talking non-stop for the last 2 or 3 weeks about tornados, people getting hurt and damaged houses. :-(

'Tis the Season for Tornados

...fa la la la la, la la la la!

I seriously think we live in the middle of Tornado Alley these days!!! We've now had 2 days of twisters...one a couple of weeks ago rated an EF-0 or EF-1 (not sure what it ended up being) and one today (won't know the rating until tomorrow at least, but it was MUCH worse than an EF-1!).

Thankfully, Christopher and I weren't in town. We'd gone down to my mom's (1 hour south of home, but still in Middle TN) since I needed to take our new truck over to Shelbyville to get a duplicate key made (they had the best price). Unfortunately, we were still scared to death since there were very ominous-looking clouds in Shelbyville just as we arrived at the dealership! Thankfully, nothing came of it and we were able to go back to my mom's house unscathed.

Sadly, there's been tremendous amounts of damage here in Murfreesboro. There have been 2 confirmed fatalities: a young mom and her 9-week old baby girl. :-( There have also been as many as 42 hospitalizations (7 critically). Not to mention the hundreds of homes and businesses completely destroyed...as in, GONE!!! It's like a war-zone around here! :-(

Here are a few news articles:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30146711

http://dnj.com/article/20090410/NEWS01/90410042

http://www.newschannel5.com/global/story.asp?s=10164123

And, here's a video that someone took from a Chevy dealership in town. The scary thing is that I very easily could've been at the same dealership next door (the Ford side) if I hadn't chosen to go to Shelbyville instead!



We're all thanking God that we're safe and weren't in town today!!! Shad was at work in Smyrna (in an airplane hangar, of course!), so we were constantly keeping in touch. Thankfully, while there *was* a tornado warning for him, nothing ever formed in his area!

Please pray for those families affected, though, including one of our fellow church members who was hospitalized. We're hoping and praying that this was the LAST threat of tornados for this year, although the season isn't over yet. :-(