Monday, May 20, 2013

Too Close to Home

 

Oklahoma 5-20-13


You know, most of the time we gripe because our weather forecasters can’t get it right.  We carry an umbrella and there’s not a drop of rain.  We put on a sweater and it’s 85° outside.  You know the drill.  But when they say we’re going to get strong tornadoes, we really hope they’re wrong, even if we do like to gripe about it later on.  Unfortunately, today they got it right.

The city of Moore, OK—maybe 25 or 30 miles north of us, which seems very close on days like today—was devastated today by a storm that they’re starting to call the largest tornado in history.  I don’t know if all the calculations will cause that designation to hold, but it was certainly big enough.  At last count, 51 people have lost their lives, and that number is expected to rise.  Scores of people have lost their homes entirely, hundreds more have damage to deal with.  Perhaps worst of all, an elementary school was leveled and they anticipate that a couple of dozen children may have perished; they are still digging through the rubble. 

I know many people who live in Moore, and thankfully most of them are unharmed, though there are still a couple who have not yet managed to make it home, so they don’t know if they have a house to go home to.  I’m praying for everyone who’s been impacted.  All in all, it’s heartbreaking.