Stormy Saturday

Yesterday evening our area was hit with nasty weather and several tornadoes. We were not in the immediate path of these storms....we only experienced some rain, a little wind and a little lightening. Others were not as fortunate.....including a couple of our close friends. We called a couple we know who live in Racine--just inbetween Seneca and Neosho to check on them as the news was reporting damage in that vicinity. We were just lightly calling, expecting to hear a "fine" from our friends. Instead, we heard that the family was fine, but their house was gone. Rick, our friend, said his car, which was parked inside his garage (and the one he's been doing maintenence on for two weeks) was about 50 feet east of his house. Our stomachs sunk. We were beside oursevles with anxiousness and empathy for our friends. They have two young boys, Calvin is 7 and Jacob is 5. We decided to try to help them if at all possible, so we headed for their house. As we approached, we saw a string of cars parked along the road (they live in a very rural setting and along a dirt road) as TONS of trees and downed power lines lined the road. Nathan headed off with his chain saw to help and found his way over and under trees to Rick and Angie and helped them search through scattered belongings until dark. Rick told Nathan they were outside when it began to look dark and they headed inside and turned on the TV to hear that a tornado was heading right for them and they went to their basement. Rick returned upstairs to look outside and heard "that sound" and headed back into the basement and within 30 seconds their ears began to pop and they listened to loud thumps on the ceiling above them and popping, creaking and cracking. As they emerged, they found their roof had been picked up and set down away from their house and everything in splinters. Nathan has spent the afternoon helping them again today. We just can't imagine their loss.

Another very close friend of ours, Joey, called us this morning (to check on Rick--they went to school together) and told us he was caught in the tornado in his truck. He was driving on Hwy 43 with his 2-year-old daughter Hope when he saw the funnel cloud and had to pull over. He got in the back seat of his truck and sheltered Hope with his body and they rode out the tornado. The baseball size hail busted through his windows pelting his head and back and the tornado picked them up and tossed them, flipped them and the rolled and rolled. They ended up in a field quite a distance from the road they were driving on. He sustained cuts and stiches and has to have surgery on his hand and Hope escaped with a bump on her head. We are so thankful to the Lord for his protection over both of our friends. I keep thinking about the verse in Exodus 33:22 "I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand..." I feel the Lord covered each of our friends, but especially Joey and Hope with His hand. Praise be to God! Please continue to lift up our friends and all the others who were affected by yesterday's tornadoes. The death toll continues to climb. I believe it is now at 22.

I took some pictures as we drove to Rick and Angie's house--I will post them later....many of the roads are still blocked off and being monitored by authorities so we are unable to view some of the damage personally. You can look at some pictures from yesterday's storm and damage here and here. Some of these pictures are from Picher, OK, which is just about 20-30 minutes from Rick and ANgie's and where Joey was caught. The town, we have heard, is pretty much completely destroyed. Our news also reported last night, this particular tornado originated in Chetopa, KS and didn't leave the ground until Granby, MO--about 30-40 minutes from here. It is also estimated to have been an F4 to F5.