We have been away from the computer for a few days due to the above. By way of history, storms moved across our state early Wednesday morning. There were a couple of tornadoes within a 50 mile radius of our home, and it was definitely ominous since more and worse storms were predicted later in the day. Schools closed at 10:30am. Unfortunately, Skip had a flight at noon -- to Dallas, meaning that he would be flying over the storms -- but he was able to take off safely and make his way. We stayed here and hoped that the warnings were not as bad as they appeared.
On that note, if you can indulge me with a brief sidebar here, I think there are a couple of things to keep in mind when considering the number of fatalities and injuries calculated thus far. I tend to be critical of the local news (all formats), but one area where I consistently give praise involves the local weather. While they are all seasoned professionals, there is certainly Mr. Spann, who consistently rises above the rest. He is a local gem who has declined national offers and, instead, continues to broadcast on our local station. It is analogous to having Tim Russert or Tom Brokaw be the nightly anchor at your local affiliate. Locally, we have some fun with his seriousness from time to time ("out of respect for the polygon, I am asking you to get to your safe place"), but there is no question that his warnings are heeded. The bottom line is that he saves lives. Here is what the New York Times has to say about him. Locally, we know there was no escape for those who were in the path of these storms. For non-locals, footage of the crumbled brick structures and the storm path visible from space probably tells everything you need to know. There is no question in my mind that the death count would have been much higher without the expertise and warning of the professionals Wednesday afternoon. No one was cavalier about safety. Schools canceled as soon as possible, and Mr. Spann was reporting before day break Wednesday morning that we would all need emergency plans before the afternoon and evening hours. By late Wednesday afternoon, his recommendation to get to "your place of safety" was elevated to "I am pleading with you to get to your safe place right now."
Back to Wednesday afternoon, Grammie and my niece, Lexy, came by to lend some back up in Skip's absence, and Auntie Melinda joined us later. We watched the live feed of the tornado moving across Cullman, and we saw the debris being carried with the tornado. We watched the live feed of the tornado as it struck Tuscaloosa. Our reliable meteorologist then confirmed that the Tuscaloosa supercell was still on the ground, was at least a half mile wide and was heading toward Birmingham -- our area of Birmingham. We moved to the basement where we enjoyed the comfort of televised weather for about three additional minutes before our power was interrupted. I turned on one of the car radios to continue the broadcast, and we tried to keep the girls distracted. (They were not concerned; they thought it was "free play time" in the basement.) At that point, Mr. Spann was telling us that the supercell would strike City A, City B and even as far as City C (we live in City C). We had our plan which involved moving to the area of our basement that is underneath our front porch (which would be a complete concrete enclosure). We have gone back and forth on where the exact safest point of our home is, and I have voiced some concern about the concrete blocks or even the concrete porch flooring collapsing in the very worst of storms. However, after seeing the funnel cloud in Tuscaloosa, my goal was a complete concrete enclosure.
Luckily, things did not get that bad here. We did not have to drag the girls into the concrete-enclosed, front porch area, although we would have in a heartbeat. We did not have damage. We still have to inspect closely for shingle damage, but there are no obvious signs of damage. We have debris in our yard, mostly insulation from other houses and a few splinters of what appears to be trim. The supercell that destroyed much of Tuscaloosa is visible on the above map. The tornado traveled to Birmingham and affected our neighboring city (Cities A and B). Tuscaloosa certainly bore much of these storms, but so many other areas were devastated as well. Our neighboring cities did not fare well. City A is significantly damaged, and City B sustained damage to two large hotels, an apartment complex, as well as several neighborhoods. One of our pastors at church lost his home to this storm. There is so much loss and devastation across the entire state, as the above storm tracks indicate.
This is the local footage we missed after our power went out.
There will be light posting here for the next few days. We spent today cleaning our basement, going through all of our durable goods to see what could be donated. Next week, we are going to devote some time to continue gathering items and cleaning out closets to collect goods, clothing and shoes that might be of use to those who have lost everything.
In the meantime, we are fine, and we are so thankful. Our electric and phone service have been restored so we are basically back to normal (or what passes for normal for us.
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