Tornadoes

April 27, 2011 (4:45 p.m. CST): I’m sitting and watching the TV as meteorologists are showing us tornadoes just missing us here in Birmingham. In fact, they are showing video of actual tornadoes in counties all around us. Not many basements in this area. Our apartment does have a small laundry room that is under the building, which is where we will head if any of these storms heading our way heads directly toward us. I have great respect for tornadic winds. When we lived in Dillsboro, Indiana I was home when 70 mile an hour winds came through and uprooted large trees and literally screwed the bell tower off our church—spun it around and set it down in the church yard—a tower weighing several tons. I went to the parsonage basement (the house was owned by the Lutheran Church I was serving) and covered my head as a roaring sound moved through. The house had minor damage, but the community had serious damage.

I also remember the 1974 tornadoes. We were living in North Vernon, IN. I went with a church group to help clean up after a church in Madison, IN was partly damaged. We toured Hanover which was directly hit; and later we went to Louisville and saw the large beech trees on the Southern Seminary campus that were thrown around like toothpicks. It was horrendous. 

I am now watching a live feed of a huge tornado going through Tuscaloosa! It’s headed northeast, just north of us…

[later…April 28] Wow! What an evening we had last night. Pat and I began grabbing essentials and putting them in bags so we could head down to the laundry room of our apartment (the only underground place around here). But as we watched the TV reports we saw that the tornadoes (and there were several) would be either north or south of us. We were fortunate. At one point they said the big one was headed straight for downtown Birmingham—which is where Glory works. We immediately called Glory and found out that she had left work early and was home. 

It was a tense night. The University of Alabama has cancelled final exams and commencement!

One of the tragic things is that the ‘route’ of the biggest tornado went through the part of Tuscaloosa and other towns and communities where poorer people live. Other tornadoes have taken the same route.

Our new Governor said in a statement that he was thankful that the Lord had protected him, along with many others. Doesn’t that imply that the Lord decided not to protect those who were killed or lost homes? Does he literally believe that? How insulting! This is where simplistic theism leads.

I am happy to have been fortunate in this situation. But I don’t believe God chose me over someone else to be safe. God had nothing to do with it. It’s nature. Mother Nature. And I have to say at this point, Mother Nature is a bitch.