sun is high

TORNADO!!! – Murfreesboro, TN – 4/10/09

So yesterday I witnessed something I never care to see again. A tornado passed just a mile or two from the building where I work and cut a path of destruction. I was actually at the YMCA working out, when they came in and told us that they wanted everyone to head to the racquetball courts. The YMCA isn’t exactly the most sturdy structure (a one story block building), so I opted to change and drive back to my 4 story steel building less than a mile away. I ran in the building just as the storm rolled in. And within a few minutes we began experiencing some serious rotation in the storm. From our window we could see the funnel cloud form on the west side of I-24. From there it only got worse, and began to go in and out of formation, eventually touching down and expanding as it rolled in closer and closer to us. It was an experience like no other that I have had. On the one had I was struck with utter amazement at witnessing something so incredible, and on the other, a very real alertness that any moment I would need to evacuate away from the windows and run to the stairwell, as it began to approach just a mile or two from our building. I think the most incredible part for me was witnessing debris the tornado ripped from the ground. Roofs, trees and electrical transformers were thrown up hundreds of feet into the air like pieces of paper. It makes you seriously question the effectiveness of taking shelter in a small building like a house, in the path of something like an F3 tornado. It was definitely the most massive concentrated thing of destruction I have ever seen in my life. I’ve been through numerous hurricanes living in Florida, and those have many of the same elements, but with a hurricane, you know it’s coming, and you know what to expect…lots of wind and rain for hours…with this, you had no idea where it would go.

It turns out 2 people died. A mother and her 3 month old daughter. The father was in critical condition the last I heard. About 40 people went to the hospital. Needless to say, I am quite thankful to be safe and sound. It was quite a sobering experience for a Good Friday, and as I went to church that evening I was struck with a new realization of just how fragile life is, and how thankful I am to have a hope that transcends anything life (or death) throws at me. The only HOPE for humanity.

This is a video one of my co-workers took from the where we were watching it: