Friday, July 28, 2006



WE MADE IT THROUGH THE STORM!

Wednesday, July 19, 2006 I walked out of my office into a bright beautiful sunny day. As I strapped on my seat belt and started the car, my phone rang.

"Mom, where are you?"

"I am in the car driving home."

"Please hurry, I think we are in a tornado."

"What do you mean? It is sunny here." Mind you I work maybe 20 minutes from my house.

"It is pitched black and the trees are snapping off. It is really bad. Dad is here with me."

Suddenly I looked toward the west and I saw the heinous looking clouds. It was the scariest thing I have ever experienced. I immediately started to pray."Jesus, please build a fence all around me. I'm not ready to leave yet. Please protect me and the rest of the drivers."

It was now pitched black. If you ever seen the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy's house blew away in the storm, that is what I was driving through. Trees were going above my head and utility poles were snapping in half, and trash cans were smashing against cars. Paper, dirt, a hard rain, live wires were every where. I prayed myself home.

I could not stop. All the lights, traffic signals, stores, and service stations were dark and they were not letting folks in. There were no ditches to lie in. I was passing through communities. It was a sight. But I kept praying and driving as fast I could without causing an accident. About every five miles I called my daughters' cell to give her my location. If something were to happen I wanted someone to know my last sighting.

Finally, I was home. As I parked and ran into our house, I turned and looked at the car. Guess what! God had built a fence around it. My car was so shiny; it was if I had just bought it off the car lot. There was no rain on it. Trust me, I know it is hard to believe, but I looked and smiled. I knew that my prayers had been answered.

Without land line phones, radio or the news, we had no contact with folks. On Thursday, I returned to work and found out:

* This was St. Louis and the metropolitan's worst stormed ever. It was dubbed: The once in a lifetime Storm.
* We were declared a disaster state
* The military was brought in to search for the sick and the elderly
* This storm was so horrible that it pushed transfer trucks off highways, and caused millions in damages to homes and property.
* We would not have electricity in almost a fifty mile radius for up to seven days.
* Our city will suffer many millions in merchandise and money. Workers were sent home and many have still not returned to work.
*Hospitals and nursing homes were evacuated because all of the generators were wiped out.

My family and I had no where to go. My mother and father and siblings and friends were going through the exact same things. Hotels were packed until they lost their power. On Thursday, we were hit again, more than 570,000 without electricity. It took out the rest of the area.
Sadly our communities look like a ghost town. Nothing is opened in a 15 miles radius. No food, water, gas, nothing. Nada! Zilch!

Communities centers were opened to shelter folks had to close because they lost their power. It is stinky hot here. We are hungry. But I smile because I know with every fiber in my bone that there is a God. I always knew, but never had to call on him the way I did on Wednesday. To witness the destruction in my city and to see my car, even with all that rain still coming down and my car didn't even have a water spot on it. You would believe it too. He built a fence around me and I am so thankful.

Now I am typing this by a generator that we purchased this morning. My husband is out searching in other communities for food. We have to make sure that what ever or where ever we purchase food, it wasn't hit in the storm. Folks might try to sell spoiled food.

That said, we have been through something horrific here, still I smile. Because we the people of St. Louis and its' surrounding communities are blessed.


25 comments:

Fresh said...

Sending good thoughts your way...you already know that God has His eye on you. Hope things get better soon.

Organized Noise said...

Glad to hear that you made it through. I spent my summers in North Carolina and have come very close to a few tornados. I've been fortunate not to get hit by one, but just being close to one is not a good feeling.

Clare said...

Glad you got back home safely Rose. You were certainly lucky. Hope you manage to get some decent food. Thinking of you.

ILLstate said...

May God bless and Keep ya'll, i seen some pics of the afterstorm and it looked bad

princessdominique said...

I was so preoccupied with my weather here, glad you're okay though.

Drea Inspired said...

That's an amazing story! God is so good.

I'm terrified of storms and I remember on break when I was headed home from school and got caught in a terrible storm on the interstate. God kept me though. I could not even see the road ahead of me and he kept me through it all.

I pray for the recovery of those who lost loved ones and homes.

Blessings to you and your family, Rose.

BostonPobble said...

Prayer works. 'Nuff said.

Oh ~ except that I'm really, really glad you're okay.

The Gig said...

Wow, what an ordeal. I am glad that you shared that with us, especially about what God did for you, what a testimony!

S A J Shirazi said...

Thanks that you safe through with this natural clamity.

Michelle said...

Looking for food...typing by generator...wow! i'm sorry you're still feeling the aftermath of nature's wrath. I'm praying that you and the rest of my neighbors just down the highway recover soon!

Blessings...

The Sarccastik Variable Why said...

man...that's rough, i hope everything works out...i'll be sending prayers ya'll way...

Deb Sistrunk Nelson said...

Rose: I'm so glad you've survived the storm! I know how ugly the sky looked. I was on the highway, driving through East St. Louis (headed east), trying to outrace the black, swirling sky and winds. You're right. It wasn't pretty!

Thanks for this good news about your family. I was hoping that you were OK. Isn't it nice to have a man around the house? ;-)

This weekend I took care of five young boys at the request of their parent. The mother had been without power since the storm hit. She lost all of her food.

I praise God and all of the workers who are toiling overtime, trying to get power restored.

Nella said...

Sending prayers and good thoughts your way! I am glad you and your family were kept safe! Mostly you, I cant imagine what it was like. All we can do is thank god! Please keep us posted as much and I like I said will pray for you.

God Bless.

Luke Cage said...

Rose, all things considered, it is great that you and yours made it through the storm. In the end, that's all that matters luv.

Dr. Deb said...

OMG!!!!!!!

Unknown said...

When the winds got high and started to blow wildly I went out onto the back porch and stood there to take it all in and to see just how power nature can be. My mother asked me to turn off everything as there was some wild lighting going on. While outside I felt the power of nature in all her glory and it lifted my spirit.
I am a fool hearted poet and came thru it all with a sense of wonder.
We lost power for about 5 min. but my sister and brothers who all live out side of the city loss their power and as of today have yet to get it back so this house is filled with kids who have been spending the days and nights with us. Which mean more cooking then I am use to but it has on the whole been a joy to have the house fill with childhood sounds.

DramaFree said...

Wow!! You have been blessed girl! You and your family are in my thoughts and prayers.

Anonymous said...

Glad you made it through the storm.

brooklyn babe said...

The ultimate protection... God.

Nice!

Anonymous said...

Sorry you had to go through that, but I'm glad you're slowly getting things back to normal. I've prayed my way through storms before, too.

Waddie G. said...

wow...living in the midwest is definitely no joke when it comes to tornadoes and such disaster; however, I am surprised to know that even STL can be affected too...my thoughts and prayers are going to be with your family because I am glad that all of you are safe now

Anonymous said...

God is always faithful. I am thankful for Him seeing you through it all. Many, many blessings!

Me, Myself, and I said...

You and your family are definitely blessed! I'm glad you all weren't physically harmed. I was praying for all of your community when I heard about it. I was sailing the seven seas when I saw it on the news. I immediately began to panic, because my father moved to St. Louis earlier this year, and I had no idea what area he was in. When I returned home, I found out he doesn't live in the area in which the storm hit, so I was happy to know he was all right.

Shawn said...

how is everything? glad your prayers were answered

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