Last Friday night, as you probably have heard on the news, devastating tornadoes ripped through our area.
The towns where the tornadoes touched down were only a few miles from my house, and nearly missed many of my relatives’ homes. A cousin took shelter in the bathroom of his restaurant with a couple employees and a few customers as a tornado ripped off the roof and came barreling inside. They may have walked away physically unharmed, but I’m sure they’ll be haunted by the memories for a long time.
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| Goodfellas Pizza from the west, after the 030212 tornado that hit Henryville, IN |
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| Goodfellas Pizza from the east, after the 030212 tornado that hit Henryville, IN |
Every year tornadoes come through some part of our region, but never before have they come this close to me or my family. In addition to the restaurant lost, the school that several of my young cousins attend has been pummeled. One of them was set to graduate this May. I imagine that graduation ceremony will have a whole different meaning this year for the small, tight-knit community.
Check out these AP photos of the devastation. #32 is a sky view of Henryville, IN, with the school in the background and Goodfellas Pizza in the foreground. #106 shows the bus that was launched into the side of a restaurant across from the school. The students had been dismissed with hopes everyone could be dropped off just before the storms hit, but this bus driver saw the tornado coming and quickly turned around back to the school. One of the students reported being picked up off his feet by the winds as they rushed into the school for safety. Amazingly, even though much of the school was hit by the tornado, the staff and students taking shelter made it through without a scratch.
Three days later, I awoke to 4 inches of snow out my window. It was the beautiful, powdery snowfall we had been waiting for all winter season! Before work, I dusted off the ol' snow boots and schlepped myself outside to take some photos of the powdery prettiness.
It wasn’t such a pleasant surprise to some in our area, however. The snow made it harder for victims and volunteers to recover usable items from affected homes and businesses, or even just to clean up the rubble.
Today we have blue skies and a high of 70 degrees. Certainly better disaster clean-up weather. The average temp for this time of year is around 40. None of this crazy weather makes sense.
Have you ever been tragically affected by weather? It's amazing what can happen in so short a time.
Hollie
Hollie I SO understand your pain. I live just outside Birmingham, AL. Just minutes from Tuscaloosa, Pleasant Grove, Concord and other communities that were hit last April. Then again in Jan and last week. My husband's coworker died on 4/27 and her husband died 5 weeks later. I will pray for your communites and the families effected.
ReplyI am glad you are all okay! I am in Wisconsin so I know what you mean by crazy weather. A few days ago was 6 inches of snow and now I am sweating in a sweatshirt and jeans.
ReplyGlad you and your family are ok. How tragic these natural disasters are! In Australia the eastern coast has been heavily affected by non-stop rain, floods...on the western coast where I live, there isn´t a single drop of rain and it´s so, so hot!
ReplySo crazy... glad to know you and your family are safe xxx
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