Twisters Hit the Heartland
I happen to live in an area of the
United States that most people would
refer to as "out there". It is a place that
few people pay much attention unless
you are lucky enough to live here.
It is a beautiful area of the country that most
merely fly over. It has wide open spaces
filled with family farms and rolling and
wooded hills in the southern part of the state.
And in one little town called Henryville
yesterday the world as they knew it changed.
Henryville had a population of just under 2000.
It was the home of Colonel Sanders
of Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Yesterday a most unwanted visitor came
to town ~ a tornado hit yesterday afternoon
and took away much of Henryville in a
few minutes.
The stories coming out of Henryville
make me weep. There is a path of
devastation that is unimaginable. I
remember seeing the film Twister and
when the cow flew through the air, the
audience burst out laughing, it doesn't
seem real. But it is real, yesterday a 20
month old girl landed in a field, she is
alive, but critical and has a breathing tube.
We have no idea how many died yesterday,
there are confirmed deaths but who knows
what is under all that rubble?
What do you do when you have no car,
no home, no clothing, no food, your place
of employment may be gone, the school is
demolished? And that is just the "things"
of life, what do you do when you don't know
where you loved ones are, including your
beloved pets?
If you would like to help, please
give to the American Red Cross.
In the 21 years I have lived here, I
have seen countless storms. We do
not take it for granted, it is a very
serious part of our lives. We have been
lucky though. It is part of life to have
tornado watch graphics pop up on the
tv, quite a few times I have left my home
with my loved ones to go to my Mum's
house who has an area of her basement
with no windows. And one terrible afternoon,
a bad storm was heading right for us and I
went to school to get my kids and just as
we were leaving all hell broke loose, the
sky was as black as night and things were
just flying through the air. My sister & I
took my kids into a little bathroom and
we covered them with our bodies and
pulled exercise mats over us. My face was
pushed up against a cinder block wall and
I could feel it moving. We were lucky, we
walked away. So many were not as lucky
yesterday ~ please keep them in your thoughts.
