EF4 Tornado

Yazoo City, Mississippi, already our home now for almost a year and a half. We have fallen in love with the people here and we are glad that this is where God chose to move us.

Last Saturday, April 24, a lot changed here.
Sam's parents were here from Alabama for what was supposed to be an eventful weekend. It was that, but just not full of the archery, ballet recital and baseball game that was on the calendar.

At 12:15 we were getting Kaebrie dressed in her costume and putting on her make up when the tornado siren went off. We tend to ignore those pretty much, checking the radar on the computer every now and then and generally doing what we were doing inside. Sam, Poppa and I walked outside to glance around (stupid, I know) and noticed the tell tale signs of a BAD storm. Those of you in parts of the country where tornadoes are not common may not have ever experienced this, but when things are about to get really bad weather wise (and it is daylight hours) the air around you has the definite green light to it. Hard to describe, but you can not mistake the "green" air.

Once we saw that, we got the pillows and had all the kids sit in the downstairs hallway. Sam kept checking the computer radar and we could see a spot where there could be a tornado and the reasons for the sirens to be going off. The wind all of the sudden picked up very strongly and it was time for us ALL to be in the hallway. We got the dog, the grandparents and the 6 of us with 4 flashlights (as the power had just stopped) in the interior hallway. The kids were nervous, but as the wind picked up and we heard a crash, I think we all got nervous. Sam started praying out loud for protection and safety, and after what seemed like 10 minutes, but was probably only 3, the noise stopped. Leaving the kids in the hallway, we walked around peeking out windows. We saw the giant tree down by the swing set and knew that was the crash we heard. It rained for about 10 more minutes then it cleared up. More checks of the property and the tree was the only damage we could see.

Kaebrie was supposed to be at her recital at 1:00 and I had Sam call a friend on his cell phone to find out if we were still meeting, but when our friend answered, she was hysterical. Their house had received a direct hit. That was when we found out a tornado had hit, it was not just wind. That was also the last phone call that our cell phones were able to make for about 2 days. Leaving the kids with the grandparents, we took off to go help our friends. The sight that met our eyes when we got to the top of the hill, a mile from our house, was total devastation. Homes, trees, business, in ruins. We were gone for 5 hours, checking on elderly church members who lived alone, getting to other friends, crawling for hours through downed trees to reach homes. I have never experienced anything like it.

We now know it was an EF4 tornado. The second largest possible. It was also called a wedge tornado because at its base, the largest point was 1.75 miles WIDE. Too big to see a funnel. Winds over 170 miles per hour. A true monster of a storm.

We also now know that over 700 homes were damaged, and 250 of those are destroyed or unlivable. I don't have the statistic yet of the businesses, but a lot were seriously damaged and are still out of business.

These pictures are a compilation of several days, and way out of order, but there were to many to try and organize chronologically.

This was Sunday, I do remember that, and a picture of our downed pine tree. The kids enjoyed playing on it! It missed the big wooden swing set by an inch.


Driving to a friends house, we were just awestruck by the tree damage. Large trees, just twisted and shredded, peeled like bananas.
Two or three days after the tornado and their driveway is cleared. But they lost over 2,000 trees on their property. It looks like a bomb went off.
Giant steel billboard sign, twisted to the ground.
By Sunday afternoon, the National Guard, Red Cross and the Salvation Army were here and set up at the top of the hill. Collin got a picture of these tents.
For over 24 hours, nobody was allowed INTO town except disaster relief agencies and medical and law personnel.
Homes just destroyed.
Businesses gone.

This church was demolished. There was one man working inside that day, and he dove under the offering table and lived. He called his son to come dig him out. On a news interview he said he had now been saved in that church twice.

Sunday afternoon, only 24 hours after the hit, volunteer work crews were out with chainsaws and trailers and the work began putting peoples homes back in order. We had 40 volunteers from Redeemer Presbyterian in Jackson drive up and join us for the day.
Every available chainsaw in the county was put to work.

Even the kids helped where they could. Collin ended up working with the crews for most of the week.
The ladies at the church delivered lunches to the work crews all week, and every night delivered meals to those without power and those shut in, as well as served at the church to volunteer workers and those without power. I wish I had kept count of the hundreds and hundreds of meals we served last week.
Just to show you the size of these uprooted trees. Many over a 100 years old.

Enchanted Hills is a neighborhood up the road from us. They had severe tree damage and because the trees were so old and so big, the trees caused very bad house damage. It took 7 days to get power restored here because they had to replace ALL the power poles and start from scratch.
This was about 4 houses down from one of my best friends.
It has truly been a joy to see how fast the help arrived, and the amount of it! What giving and support in this community!
Christopher and I got a tour of the Samaritan's Purse disaster van. It was amazing! So well stocked with supplies and so very organized. Hundreds of tarps were being unloaded.


This is probably my favorite photo from this week. I think it tells a story. Shows the devastation but also brings hope.
I had never heard of God's Pit Crew before, but they were one of many relief organizations to spend the week here.
The force it must take to bend flagpoles is staggering!

The Steak House. The owners of the restaurant also lost their home and a family member.

Our volunteer team putting a tarp on a church member's home.




Driving down Old HWY 16 will break your heart. Houses and businesses demolished and just gone. Beautiful trees bent and stripped at angles only a very high wind could have made. Below was Frank's Skating Rink, a place where a lot of people here have had parties and events since their childhood.
Only 2 walls left of this house.
Yes, there are the remains of a home under those trees.
Second story...gone...

Our Youth Minister, Elliott, with the never ending chain saw work.
With over 700 homes damaged, and lots of businesses as well, putting up tarps took a lot of time. Disaster Relief organizations such as Samaritan's Purse brought in hundreds of them.
I think there is beauty found in the devastation. The trees were just gorgeous. Because the winds were over 170 miler per hour, the bark on a lot of them was stripped off, like a banana, leaving the smooth wood underneath. That is one sign that this tornado was an EF4, lower rated tornadoes can not do this to trees.
More of God's tree art.
I also found this rainbow tree art beautiful, though I ached for the friends whose property it was on. They lost a lot of trees and part of their house.
In the middle is Bridgette. Our team was referred to her because her house had been destroyed by large trees and she and her family needed help. The two ladies on the outside were volunteers from a PCA church in Jackson up helping for the day. Bridgette and her husband and three sons were not hurt, but they can not live in their home until the roof is replaced, but they were so thankful and loving to us. I feel like I have a new friend.
This is just a glimpse into what last week was like. There are so many more pictures and stories to tell in the future.

What is the future for Yazoo City?

So many of you have asked how you can help. And we do need help. If you are close enough, you are welcome to drive over and join a work crew. Lots of tree work, roofing work, and maintenance until we get farther along when painting and planting will be needed. Bring your family, your church, or a group of friends. We are providing lodging and most meals.

If you are far away, you can donate. We have an official tornado relief fund set up and ALL of the proceeds will go directly to helping families put their lives back together.

A check can be made to First Presbyterian Church with a memo for Tornado Relief and mailed to the church at PO Box 61 Yazoo City, MS 39194. Or go to our church website, where you can donate online through PayPal at http://www.fpcyazoo.org/ with a credit card. You do not have to have a PayPal account to donate.

Most of you know that Collin, Kaitlynn and I have been working hard fund raising for our mission trip to the orphanage in Mexico in June. As of last night, we have canceled our trip. The need in our own town is so great that we will stay here and work. We will take the over $10,000 we have already raised, adopt a family or two, and spend those dates that we were supposed to be gone working very hard in whatever ways we can, helping. You can give to our adopted local family by designating your check "summer mission team". Again, all money will go to helping local families.

The best thing you can do though, is pray. As bad as this tornado was, we are already finding so many things to be thankful for, so many blessings. The joy of serving, the establishing of relationships that probably would have never been founded, the generosity of local and far away people, ....... just so much goodness.

There will be many more posts and updates coming soon. If you have specific questions please let me know.

Thank you all for your love, concern and prayers.
We truly and blessed in Yazoo City.