4/27/11

Just another day, just another ordinary day, or so we residents of the Great state of Alabama thought. I, along with everyone else, woke up that morning and went about my normal activities despite weather warning all around me. I had been forewarned by my parents and sister to watch the weather because we were supposed to get bad storms throughout the day. I always heed to warnings about weather because the weather can be so unpredictable, but on this particular day, I was a little more lax to the weather around me because we had been under so many tornado watches lately that I had become used to it and assumed they would pass as quickly as they came. If only that were true. Around 4:45 p.m., my roommate and I were just sitting around watching a movie when we heard the weather sirens going off. I looked outside to see what was was going on and it was eerily dark, so we turned the television on to the weather. News reports told us that a tornado had touched down in the Northport and Tuscaloosa areas. We immediately got our shoes and jackets on and ran across the way to our friend's apartment to ride out the storm with them. We watched on the television as the sky cam was showing us footage of a categorized f5 twister estimated to be one mile wide at it's largest ripping through our town. My boyfriend, Matt, and his roommate live in a 9 story building in downtown Tuscaloosa and when they began showing footage of their building on the television being in the path of the tornado, I lost my mind. This was unlike anything I had ever seen or felt before. I was watching a monstrous tornado tear this city I've come to know and love completely apart, and there was nothing I could do about it. Nothing except pray. I went into the closet and began praying out loud to Jesus to please protect Matt and his roommate and everyone else in this city that I knew and loved. I remember praying that he would just make the tornado go the other way. About that time, my roommate/best friend, Danielle, came into the closet with me and said, "it's ok, it went the other way!". Phew!! Can you say relief? I know my prayer had something to do with it. After this, we ran outside to look up at the sky and we watched, from a safe distance, as the tornado left our city, as quickly as it came.

While all of this was happening here, I got word that 3 tornadoes had came through my hometown of Henagar, where my parents live. Thankfully to the good Lord above, they were kept safe, and their house as well. Many, however, were not so lucky. Since the days after the storm, I have seen destruction that I never thought was possible. It is unbelievable the panic and chaos that mother nature can inflict. She's unpredictable, as most women are! Ha! Our state has come together in a selfless way trying to help their fellow man out, as well as themselves. I just know that our state will rebuild, and be greater than it was before! That's why we call it 'Sweet Home Alabama'.