Devastating Kentucky Tornadoes Ilustrate What Really Matters
Devastating Kentucky Tornadoes
Most of you know I am from Kentucky. I lived in Georgia for awhile but most of my life has been spent here in the Bluegrass state. The night of December 10th and into the morning of the 11th nearly 60 tornadoes ripped across several states including Kentucky.
When we look at pictures like the one above there is the damage we see and then there is the damage we don’t see, but it’s there. It’s in the minds of the men, women and children who survived but will be scarred with vivid and lasting memories. The damage belongs to the first responders and folks who walked out in their yard and accidentally discovered a dead body. It belongs to the kids who lost their pets and the pets who can’t find their way back home.
These Kentucky tornadoes tore up more than towns, they ripped holes in people’s hearts.
Kentucky Twisters
Kentucky tornadoes usually happen in March, not December. The year I graduated from high school (1974 and yes I am old and proud of it) there was a string of deadly storms that spring that left a streak of destruction, Thankfully most are not as vicious as the ones that tore through the state this December.
When I was in second grade a tornado was headed toward our town so they dismissed school. (This wouldn’t happen now but there were a lot of things they did differently when I was a kid). My mother had gone shopping out of town and the school couldn’t locate my dad. I stayed with my teacher, Miss Virginia, and waited. I was petrified. I’m not sure I even knew what a tornado was but I just remember being sick with fear. My dad eventually showed up but Dad wasn’t afraid of storms and brushed my fears aside. For decades every time the sky darkened I battled a deep, dark knot of fear in my stomach.
The children who survived the recent tornadoes will most likely have to face fear much longer than I did, and that breaks my heart.
Mayfield
This photo gave me chills when I saw it and evidently it did a lot of people. After Shawn Triplett posted it, it quickly went viral. To read Shawn’s story about this picture and what Mayfield looked like after the Kentucky tornadoes first hand click here. Shawn is from Mayfield and a Marine. He’s quoted in this article as saying, “I’ve seen plenty of war zones. I’ve seen just absolute destruction, what bombs and gunfire and things can do, in my years of the Marine Corps, and I’ve never seen anything with that much destruction.”
Chances are good that if you watch or listen to any news coverage you have seen photos similar to the ones in this post. You have heard about the millions/billions in damages and the loss of life from Kentucky tornadoes. What you may not know is that even in the midst of all this heartbreak and sorrow there has been an outpouring of love in and around these broken communities that I find hard to describe.
I read a story today on Facebook about a lady who found a photograph on her car window the night after the storms. The easy thing to do would have been to just throw it away, but she didn’t do that. She searched until she managed to find the owner (via Facebook) and is mailing it back to the family. Another person posted about passing school buses from Eastern Kentucky on the interstate loaded with supplies and on their way to the hardest hit areas. And there is so much more.
Gone in 30 Seconds
Consider what happened to Jasmin Grahovic, a Bosnian native living in Bowling Green. For those of you who don’t know the International Center of Kentucky is located in Bowling Green. The Center is a refugee resettlement agency. It has helped resettle over 10,000 refugees, victims of human trafficking, and immigrants from 30 countries around the world.
Jasmin and his family survived the tornado but they lost everything. This is not his first time starting over. He left Bosnia after his home was destroyed during the war. Then he and his family lived in a refugee camp in Croatia until they were able to relocate to Bowling Green. He works as a truck driver and a few years ago put a new $16,000 roof on his house. The new roof and most of what he owns was gone in 30 seconds.
United We Stand
In 2016 I wrote a post in response to something President Barack OBama had said. He had made the statement that Americans were really not as divided as we seemed. I respectfully disagreed and it was published on The Huffington Post. This article was written pre-covid. I had no idea at the time that a pandemic would further divide us. Masks versus no masks. Vaccination versus no vaccine. Quarantine or you can’t make me stay home. And on and on.
Why am I talking about division now? Because as easily as politics and Covid can divide us…tragedy can unite us.
My brother owns a rental property in Bowling Green and he went to check on it. He was in a car wreck not long ago and isn’t able to use a chainsaw due to his 14 broken ribs. He needn’t have worried. He said there were at least 30 some people with chainsaws walking streets helping clear debris. Not one person stopped to ask residents who they voted for, what party they belonged to, or whether or not they were vaccinated.
They just helped. And people are still helping.
So What Matters?
Between Covid and tornadoes, Kentucky has had a year for the record books and a year no one wants to repeat.
Diseases and natural disasters will continue to occur but the lessons we learn from them matter. Kindness and concern should not be reserved just for tragedies. Respect of differences, love and forgiveness should be given to each other in times of prosperity as well as adversity.
This Christmas won’t be cheerful for many Kentuckians (or Americans). So many have lost someone to Covid and now tornadoes. I don’t mean to downplay the loss of property and personal things, but things can be replaced. People can’t.
If you need help, please know there are many of us donating to the American Red Cross, Church of Christ Disaster Relief Fund and other organizations. We are praying for you and for first responders and we want to help in anyway we can.
Christmas 2021
In Luke Chapter 5 is the story of the birth of Christ.
10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
There will always be natural disasters and disease in this world but there’s another world coming. A better world with no tears, no sorrow, no disease, no tornadoes.
And that, my friends, is what really matters because it lasts for eternity. Let’s make sure we are ready.
