There are times when thoughts and prayers do little, like with school shootings; for those instances, positive action is really all that will help. But they do help when it comes to natural disasters like the tornado outbreak Friday and into Saturday that affected people in Arkansas, Mississippi, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Alabama and Indiana that killed, as I’m writing this Saturday afternoon, at least 10 people and injured dozens more. Five of those people were killed in my home state, one in North Little Rock and four in Wynne.
I was extraordinarily lucky in that my street was spared. I saw no damage in a short walkabout Friday evening even though I had heard things flying around at one point as I hunkered in the bathroom, and I never lost power; the only issues I really have had is sleeplessness and the accompanying fatigue and a migraine from the barometric pressure changes and the stress of the day (and maybe a couple more pounds thanks to stress-eating). Other friends reported the same. But others weren’t so lucky, losing homes, livelihoods, beloved pets, and lives.
If you would, please send up positive thoughts and prayers for those affected. If you can, pitch in to help. And if you haven’t already, check in with friends and family to make sure they’re OK and so they know you’re OK too.
Serenity is a fuzzy belly 
Glad you are safe, Brenda! I can dig where you’re coming from. The EF-5 that Joplin experienced in 2011 struck only a couple miles south of our house.
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I saw so many videos taken by people who’d clearly never been through a major tornado. I’ve been through at least two personally. There was a cluster that took out major parts of where we lived when I was a kid. We had to run across the road to the church basement as one was coming, and we were down there for it seems like half the day as we listened to some pass over us. Our house escaped that time, though just barely. My junior year in high school, though, the roof was ripped off, and my mom was out in the hallway holding the wall up long enough for us to get out. We were lucky, though, because north of us it flung a tree through a window and killed a girl.
That was more than enough for me to be wary of getting out to take video, even before more recent ones.
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My aunt was living in Joplin in 2011 when that EF-5 came through there. She was attending a church service when the tornado hit. Everybody went down to the church basement for safety. After the tornado passed, she had to wait for two or three hours before she was allowed to return home. Her cat was so scared by the tornado that it refused to come out from under the bed for two or three days afterwards although my aunt tried to offer the cat some of his favorite treats.
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I worry about all the animals that ran off in the aftermath here. I know some have been found, but there are a lot that still haven’t been and may not be.
When I was with Charlie during that storm a few weeks back, I made sure to open Sarah’s closet door that morning because it’s his safe space. He spent a good part of the day in there. Sarah said this time when he wasn’t in the closet, he was wandering around worriedly, his fur ruffled.
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Hot Springs Village seems to have been spared but we drove through some damage on Chenal Parkway. One set of traffic lights was still out
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That’s one reason I haven’t gotten out yet. Between lights being out and debris still in the roads in some areas, it doesn’t seem like a good idea.
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I’m so relieved that you are okay but heartsick for all those in the direct path of those tornados. Stay safe. Recovery will be slow, and tornado season is just beginning.
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Me too. A friend posted yesterday that he had a bit of survivor’s guilt at having no damage. He nailed exactly what I’m feeling.
They tested the alert system today at noon, so I’m guessing we may have twice-weekly tests for a while instead of just the one on Wednesdays. A few weeks ago there was damage mostly south of Little Rock in a big storm (though a huge tree was uprooted and in the roadway less than half a mile from Sarah’s house, where I was house/cat-sitting), and the sirens in Little Rock went off when they shouldn’t have. North Little Rock’s warning system seems more reliable, but I’d still rather have a warning than not.
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I have never experienced a tornado in person and I am glad this is one experience I haven’t had–yet. When the tornado came through here on Friday, I was at work and it had been a quiet day so far. My job suddenly became very hectic and crazy and busy as we tried to move all of our patients (including the ones who had tested positive for the COVID-19 virus) as far away from the windows as we possibly could move them.
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Be glad you haven’t. My oldest brother was driving to work when the clusters hit, so he had to drive into a ditch. One of our friends was lifted up in her car and put in a tree. She was lucky she came out with only a broken leg and cuts and bruises.
The patients at the VA were lucky to have dedicated staff like you there to keep them protected.
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