For those of you who were not aware, our small town of Mena, Arkansas, was devastated by an F3 tornado that hit Thursday night, April 9th. The town will never be the same, but the resilience of our community has been evident these past few days. I have never been so proud of the strength and generosity of the hard-working people here...
We only suffered three fatalities, which is mind-boggling, considering the aerial photos of the destruction, found at this link.
I also uploaded some photos here on my flickr site.
An image that says a lot, is one I captured two houses down from where my daughter's best friend lost her home:
The chalk on the siding says: "Katrina! Arkansas takes care of its own!"
The day after the tragedy, there were people with chainsaws everywhere. No one "waited to be rescued." We are tough. We will survive. And I thank God above that we weren't in our old home on Ninth Street anymore (even though we still own it). Times like these help us remember what the real priorities are in our lives - each other.
20 comments:
I hadn't heard about your tornado, I'm so glad you're OK!
It's sad but at least it was very few fatalities.
I'm glad you (and your property) are alright, Tig.
Heard nothing of this on the news.
So sorry that Mena got hit with a tornado! I'm glad you and your family are alright. We had the storms pass through our area and they got worse after they entered Arkansas. Mena is such a lovely town. We were just in Kirby a few weeks ago.
You have been in my thoughts for days now. It is wonderful that everyone just rolled up their sleeves and got to work. Love to you all.
Wow. Didn't realise you lived near there. Glad to hear that you and your family are OK. Things can be fixed and/or replaced....family and people can't. Sounds like you have some good people around you. Take care.
I imagine you feel in a state of shock yet.
A small town nearby suffered a very similar blow almost 13 years ago. They cleaned up and rebuilt, quickly, and I'm sure folks there will also! (They cleaned up too quickly -- by the time the state governor came to visit, there wasn't much mess left to see!)
Homes that were damaged are usually best torn down rather than repaired, due to structural damage, some of which isn't apparent right away.
Tiff, I'm so very happy to hear that you and your family are safe and sound. Praise be!
Glad to see you posting -- I know you're on facebook (but I'm not)
I'm going to check out your links.
Where were you when it hit?
Was your daughter home?
I think thats what would scare me more than anything -- not knowing where all the family was.
I stayed away from the news during Lent so I didn't know about it. Wow! So glad you all are ok! Wow...
RO
Tiff...I thought to myself, is that where Tiff is, when I saw the news, but could not remember..
SO HAPPY y'all are safe.
I am so glad you are okay! My mom was here when it happened - and we started thinking about our Arkansas friends and was SOOOO relieved to see you had your Twitter updates on the side so we knew.
God bless America, Tig.
I'm glad you're OK. It was insane. I drove through winds and rain in the middle of the night and it all seemed like some kind of dream. I didn't even realize it had hit Arkansas until you said something.
I did hear about this on the news... and I thought Mena sounded really familiar and it finally hit me that it was YOU!! I'm so glad to know you and your family are okay. Even in some of the footage I thought I recognized your old home, I think that is when I realized it was your town, and that's why the name was familiar.
Many hugs!
It has just occurred to me that I have relatives who live in Mena.
My dad and his brother were born there, so when I saw the news report about the tornado, that's who I thought of.
I had forgotten that you lived there.
So glad that you are ok.
And yes, things like this remind us of our priorities.
((Tif))
Big hugs and smoochies xxxxooxoxoxoxo
WT - many thanks.
C - when I drive thru the devastated areas, I still can't believe there weren't more deaths.
M@ - you had to watch CNN Headline News early the morning of the 10th, and then the Weather Channel.
Junebug - you'll be shocked when you return.
Spellbound - thank you, and it's true - I think 8 out of 10 people here own a chainsaw.
sirdar - so very true, and thank you.
Kila - I wish you could talk to our insurance adjuster - b/c that's what I'm thinking!
Desert Songbird - yes, indeed...we are SO blessed!
Pamela - we were all at our new home - all safe, thank goodness. Any other night of the week, and who knows where we would have been scattered. Knowing my husband, he would have called us all to come home.
RO - thanks, and I'm STILL saying WOW...weeks later.
Bond - yes, and thanks!
Karmyn R - it's amazing, we didn't have power and cell service was spotty - I was panicked, b/c I couldn't tell everyone we were okay for hours. Thankfully, got a call in to my mom and dad in California right before it all went down!
M@ - ???
Memphis Steve - and today? Yeah, we got FEMA!
Kaytabug - they actually DID have my old home in some of the news footage - isn't that wild? And yes - I am SO thankful that we were all safe.
Swampy - I'm dying to know who these relatives are! Are your family members okay?
karisma - thanks so much - I need them desperately!
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