Annina Purdy, who was inside the Lowe’s hardware store in Sanford, N.C. the previous day when a tornado destroyed the building, returned to the store’s parking lot on Sunday, April 17, 2011, to reclaim personal belongings from her car. (AP Photo/Ted Richardson)Probably because of our surrounding mountainous terrain, the Chattanooga area rarely endures great loss of life from powerful tornadoes. But many people in a number of other Southern states suffered awfully this past weekend.
Dozens of twisters were reported in North Carolina alone. The tragic death toll there rose to at least 23, with many more people injured. Scores more tornadoes struck in Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Virginia, bringing the total number of deaths to at least 44.
It’s springtime, of course, and changing weather conditions sometimes generate tornadoes and other heavy winds.
But timely action helped many avoid death and injury last weekend.
For example, an alert Lowe’s manager and other store employees in Sanford, N.C., south of Raleigh hustled a hundred customers and workers safely into a sheltering portion of the store before the front of the building collapsed.
Still despite many fortunate “near misses,” there were heartbreaking deaths, plus widespread damage to buildings, trees, cars and so forth. The cleanup will be costly.
We are amazed sometimes by the power of nature in its varied forms. It is always wise, therefore, to consider in advance what we would do if we were confronted by comparable danger.
We give thanks for all the warnings and helping hands in the most recent severe weather, and we mourn the deaths and injuries.