Total Devastation in Minutes

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.