The South East

[john e. holliday]

I see the post about St Louis which is not that far from me really, but I wonder about our flying family in the SE and Arkansas.  In Arkansas a whole town is devistated.  In the SE the number of deaths is over 300 according to Yahoo news.  Hope all our flying family is safe and sound.

[Zuriel Armstrong]

John,

Thanks for the concerns.  I watched the massive storm destroy Vilonia, AR from my house.  An hour later we were hit by a seperate storm that did minor damage to my house, but destroyed many homes and vehicles without a single injury.  I felt my home shake as the storm winds hit.  We were lucky.  I too am concerned for our friends further to the south.  I spoke with our moderator Paul Taylor last night and he and his family were on there way to Florida on vacation and he was approaching Birmingham as the storms passed through. 

I guess we all need prayers all of the time!!!

Zuriel

[Paul Taylor]

Yea we made if down. We came in right behind the big storm in Alabama. Traffic came to a stan still on hwy 78 so I pulled out my smart phone and routed us down some back roads. Almost a mistake.  Power lines and trees covered the two lane road making it a maze for about 5 or 6 miles. Went thru a small town called Sandusty and it looked like a war zone. The whole side of a 2 story building was out in the street. We followed the storm all the way to the gulf coast. What a mess. We heard yesterday on the news that a bunch of people took shelter in a taco bell and the whole building is gone.
Pray for those that lost family. 290 was the last count I heard.

[Bill Little]

It has sure been a strong Spring time very early this year for tornadoes.  When they hit NC, it set an all time record for reported tornadoes in one day.  We were with in spitting distance of three different areas that got pretty well tore up.  One storm came through near my oldest son's home then moved on further North and just missed our youngest son's home (we were visiting them at the time!) and we had gone to my Uncle's home a few miles further NE and the same tornado came through there.  On the ground for something like 70 miles.  Almost unheard of.  But through grace, we were just far enough in each instanced that the actual tornado didn't hit us.  We get small tornadoes all the time, even had two come straight over the school I was teaching at.  Jumped the buildings both times and came back down by a branch behind the school taking down trees.  The roar as it passes over is mind boggling.  Did get my Nissan pick up shoved about 30 feet one afternoon while pulling  into the field house.  About the strangest sensation I have ever felt.  One jumped over my house a couple years ago taking out 50 plus feet tall long leaf pine trees, but no damage to the house.  Nothing to snicker at...............

[John Stiles]

Tornado touched down about 1 mi. from my house in Tulip....trees snapped off like tooth picks and some completely uprooted. A family of 4 were on the highway and a tree fell on their car, but our volunteer fire dept got them out safe and unharmed. My neighbors house was damaged and the house across the highway from him had a tree on it. After accounting for all the trees twisted off, there were several extra treetops that rode the tornado from some unknown place. One of the huge pines[4' dia.] between my flying fields was struck by a huge bolt of lightning, and will die. My ponds ran over the top of their levees, one cut a trench letting all the water out, the other is still running out the spillway. X2 Zuriel, on the always needing prayers.