After work Wednesday, the weather was starting to look pretty grim again and I wasn't up for being home alone in Ringgold, so I went to my sister's house in East Ridge. Luckily, her boyfriend came over as well... I imagine Ash would have been much more frantic than she already was if he wasn't there. We were able to watch the news for about 20 minutes before the power shut off. We hunted down candles, lighters, and two tiny flashlights.
We were on our phones trying to stay updated with the forecast (and also reassuring my mom and others again and again that we were okay). At one point, the rain was pouring, hail was falling, and the wind was whistling. We huddled in Ashley's closet for around 15 minutes, until it calmed down outside. When we emerged from the cramped space, it was barely sprinkling outside. We heard a bunch of commotion down the street so we went out to rubberneck. A tree had fallen on one of the houses but as far as we could tell, no one had been hurt. A different neighbor had a tree partially fallen over, but it didn't cause too much damage. Another house had shingles that were pulled off. Ash's next door neighbor had a tree in their backyard that fell into the yard of the neighbor on their other side. It was uprooted!
You can't really tell from the picture, but there was a huge, gaping hole underneath. It was crazy.
We stayed outside in our front yard for a while. We let our phones charge in our cars while we waited until the next spurt of bad weather. It was the way we knew what was going on elsewhere.
At about 8:45, I believe, is when we got more of the unforgiving weather. There was constant lightening and we didn't know it at the time, but this was around the time of the Ringgold tornado. We spent a while in the bathtub for good measure. It was uncomfortable, but better safe than sorry.
The rest of the night was spent without power and in the dim lighting of candle light. The weather didn't get any more out of control than a constant rain and significantly less wind pressure than before. We were able to fall asleep around midnight.
Ringgold Tornado.
My house is in Ringgold, closer to Fort Oglethorpe than the heart of Ringgold, so we were blessed and didn't have any damage; our power never even turned off. It is so sad and heart breaking to have something like this happen so close to my home.
The monstrous EF4 tornado, with winds estimated between 175-190 mph, destroyed many homes and businesses. There were many deaths and many who were injured, not only in Ringgold, but all over the south. According the the Chattanooga Times Free Press, "a total of 342 have died in seven states. Alabama was the hardest hit with 250 deaths... making it the second-deadliest twister day in U.S. history." Luckily, parts of Tennessee will be getting government funding to help with repair, losses, and such.
If you click here, the Facebook page of the Chattanooga Times Free Press has tons of devastating pictures from the aftermath of the storms and tornadoes. Photographer Greg Beasley does as well; more, even. And, Wikipedia does a pretty good job with details from all of the tornadoes that happened. Here is some information on how to help if you would like to. My church is getting together and planning on ways to help with the relief. I am sure many of the churches around here are doing so if you would like to check with them. There are so many things you can help with.
Praying for the helping hand of God in every situation caused by these storms.
Praying a peace over the victims, for they will be taken care of.
Praying that this disaster will bring lost souls, who are looking for help and answers, to Christ.
Praying that Christian brothers and sisters come together as one to show the love of Christ through giving, serving, and loving.
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