A category 5 tornado can generate wind speeds of 300+ miles per hour. A category 5 hurricane (the worst level) has winds in excess of 157 MPH. In the movie “Twister” the category 5 tornado was referred to as “the finger of God.”
In my younger days, I provided communications assistance and damage assessment for more than a few tornadoes and hurricanes. They’re newsworthy for a few days, even though it may take years (if ever) for the families in the path to recover. For many, everything they owned is gone–if they’re lucky. If they’re not, some of, or everyone they love may be gone forever.
To my knowledge, we have never seen a tornado like this with a 200+ mile track that hit eight states–Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio and Tennessee. If you need to, go look at a map and see how much territory this covers. It does not matter if one corner of a state was hit, the economic and emotional damage hits the whole state, as well as neighboring ones.
So today I ask for you to pray for the victims, the first responders, the National Guard men and women, and the families of all of them. There will be requests for donations – many bogus. When in doubt, donate to the Red Cross. Cash is best. Many well-intentioned gifts of clothing, etc. cannot be matched up with those who need them, so they end up in the land fill.
sfnowak 