Saturday, April 30, 2011

Pioneer Woman: Thursday

Day 2...still no power. The radio reports are not really registering. Lots of reports about Cullman, Rainsville, Tuscaloosa being affected by the tornado. Started wondering just how many had hit. Information was spotty at best. Still no land line. Cell service was spotty. Finally leared that ALL of the TVA power customers were without power. Cletus was up super early, as usual, and drove to Fayetteville. He got gasoline and groceries. He reported that no power until you got to Tennessee. On the way back, lines (50+ cars) were lined up to get gasoline.

Strange to see the neighborhood so quiet. Saw a lot of neighbors. Everyone eager for information. Some had chainsaws. Some had generators. Lots of questions. When would we get power. Would the water still be drinkable. Did anyone know of open businesses.

We drove over to check on Cletus' parents. Harvest was a war zone. A tree had fallen and the county cut enough to make it a tree tunnel and moved on. There was a lot of debris in the road. Fields littered with pieces of pressboard, mattresses, toys, sheets...and I thought what a disgrace. Then I realized, it was dumped there...by the tornado. On the other side of the road and back...there used to be houses. I was looking at the remains of someones life. Whole line of trees sheared off. Metal twisted around trees. Cars tossed. Unbroken toilets were sitting in the middle of the road! Unbelievable!! Information is still slow...but I head it might have been an EF4 tornado.

That scene was less than five miles from my house. It makes you instantly grateful for everything you have!

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