Tornado Alley

I have always said I love the weather. Growing up in the Midwest on a grain/livestock farm has made me appreciate looking at the sky and analyzing the clouds for as long as I can remember. My family would be out in the fields trying to harvest crops or work up the land getting it ready to plant the next crop while always looking to the west and south for developing thunderheads. I may not of known the names of the clouds, but from the back tail gate of the farm truck, I would look up and I knew what was about to come. Take big puffy clouds mixed with a hot southwest wind and that spelled trouble. Sure enough by early evening, the lightening would begin in the horizon and we would be scrambling to drive back to the fields my dad and brother were farming to take them to safety. It drove me nuts that my dad and brother would turn and make one more pass in the field before stopping. They would wait until the last possible second, when the gust front would move in, to retreat out of the combine or tractor and into the cab of the truck for safety. I was comforted as I ducked in the backseat of the Pontiac, that it was just Jesus rolling potatoes down the hill. I find myself telling the girls that now as it makes storms a little less scary.
I have seen many funnels develop, 6 tornadoes, and hail the size of softballs fall. But Sundays outbreak has made me stop in my tracks. Our families live close by Sunday's Joplin tornado. Joplin was our go to metro area growing up. I knew that afternoon conditions were setting up. Even though, I do not live there now, I always watch the radar and analyze some maps for my parents and Converse's parents. As a matter of fact, my friends that are  closest to me, that are strung out around the country, know my love of the weather. They text me and call me Supercell Suz, as soon as the skies start turning dark. It makes me smile.
On Sunday, there were several regions stretching into Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Kansas, and Missouri that I began monitoring from afar, sending out texts as conditions changed. It was quickly becoming the perfect storm as the afternoon heated. Some friends were at ballgames, some were at outdoor activities, and others were at home. All it was going to take was for the cap of high pressure to break. It did not take long. It broke alright. The problem was....no one really knew what was happening.  It happened fast.
The EF5 multi-vortex monster was rain wrapped.  By report of friends, it looked like a wall of dark rain clouds moving in. My in-laws said the sirens sounded but they just saw heavy rain moving in. When the sirens blast everyone turns on the tv or turns up the radio to see what is going on. In the Midwest, the sirens go off at least 5 if not more times a season.It is not that you ignore it, it is just that you are use to it and your eyes go to the sky. Unfortunately, the eye did not tell the whole truth of the strength of this tornado. Thankfully, my parents who were leaving for Joplin but decided to just go to the local town found refuge at a church when the hail started coming from the north and south at the same time. The funnel started over their small town we later learned from the Weather Channel who drove through town that it then intensified from there. As it moved into Joplin, I later learned that a close friend and her family had just left a shopping center, that was minutes later destroyed. They made it to safety but the what ifs haunt them. My in-laws, were safe at home a few miles away watching it unfold on tv rather than eating out that Sunday evening, again thankfully. It did not take long for the lives of thousands of people to change forever....destruction set in.
The stories I hear fill my heart with intense sadness and empathy for the victims.  I kept hearing more and more stories of loss and despair. It was overwhelming. One young person lost her husband and two children at Home Depot right after they dropped her off to work at the hospital. That is so incredibly sad. There are so many more like this story. Just when the stories of despair are heard, almost in the same breath you hear an amazing story of courage and miracles. It is difficult to watch it all unfold but it is impossible to understand something of this magnitude, don't you think?  My prayers go out to those who have lost their children, husbands, wives, parents, grandparents, friends......the list goes on. Below is a link you can cut and paste that will show you the before and after pictures of the area.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1389737/Joplin-MO-tornado-At-89-dead-twister-cuts-4-mile-swathe-Missouri-town.html

Together, we can make a difference, by praying for the people who are affected across the country and world by similar scenarios this spring. It leaves you speechless.

Peace.
The "New Balance" gal