Devastation!

Most all in Jackson are still reeling from the tornado. It doesn't matter if you experienced first hand damage or not you were effected. Tim & I had watched the TV closely from about 5pm on as the forecaster continually said he thought we were in for a very rough night of weather. Around 6pm things seemed to escalate. Tim's middle brother, Marty, is the Emergency manager for the city of Jackson and Madison County. We checked in to see what he was hearing--- same thing. Conditions were conducive for tornadoes. Around 6:30 the red arrow came up. You know the one that tracks a storm right at you. We gathered necessity items ...flashlight, bottled water, pillows, blankets, the dog and headed for the closet. At 6:45 everything went black. Our power went out and there was an eerie calm. We went to the front porch briefly since we now had no information coming in (had not located portable radio yet). No rain, no wind, nothing except...... the sound........ the all too often described sound- the freight train and the tornado sirens. We took cover. In a matter of minutes we no longer heard the sound. We came out. We looked out. Up and down the street seemed OK. Nothing damaged. We both agreed things "seemed" Ok. It was only about 7 or 8 minutes later that sirens seemed to be coming from everywhere. Police, ambulances, fire trucks. The sound was deafening. We knew then things were NOT OK but we had no idea. No idea at all of what had happened only 2 blocks from our house. It would be a few more minutes before we began to know.

The first call (via a cell phone) came from my older sister. She said Jackson has been hit - hit bad. Her oldest son John is a fireman and his truck was the first called out. He had called back to his wife and mom to see if they were OK. It was then that we were told Union had been hit. John was the first on the scene at Union. He found the trapped students and began communicating with them. The extrication would not be easy. They were buried under about 25 feet of rubble. Emergency teams began to arrive. They called for cranes and backhoes. John said it was somewhere early in the rescue that they heard the dreaded news that another powerful storm was on the way. They worked feverishly and never quit. I found a radio and tuned in to 101.5. Calls were coming in to the station from everywhere. There was mass destruction.

People were describing where they were and what had happened. I heard that Medical offices were completely gone. My friends Exxon station - demolished. Jackson Oaks severely damaged. Walgreens contents had been completely sucked out. Our children began to call. Cell phone usuage was random to say the least. We assured the kids we were OK. More phone calls from my sister let us know things were serious. We lit candles and listened to our radios. We checked on parents, siblings and anyone else we could. I had texted the Lambuth coach. He had the team in the gym with him. All were OK there. Tim walked out into the street. So had a few other of our neighbors. The sound of sirens continued to fill the air. It made me nervous. The sounds just kept going. Emergency was definitely in the air. The second wave came around 11pm. The rain was hard, the wind was high, the lighting was scary but all I could think of was the rescue teams and the students that were trapped and perhaps 100's of other people in a similar situation. I didn't know. No one else really did either in the early hours afterwards.

Daybreak brought a horrible reality. Around 7 am the sirens started again. Police, ambulances, firetrucks. My nerves were on end. We saw the trucks go up a street near us. We could hear the commotion of so many emergency vehicles. Lots of information began to roll in as TV and power were restored. Pictures began to confirm what we only suspected the night before. Devastation! Its been5 days now since the tornado and it is still hard to believe. So surreal. Can't figure much out about all this except God is sovereign. He knows the devastation. He knows the need. He promises to meet it. Only God can bring something good from something so bad. I have already gotten glimpses of such.