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This Day in GINGEROLOGY


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Friday, April 29, 2011

...VERY brief, but VERY important post...

...PLEASE keep my town of Pleasant Grove, Alabama in your thoughts and prayers... we were one of the cities that were decimated by the tornadoes which came through Wednesday night (4/27).
Amazingly, my house is fine, my mom's house is fine, but the mile or so between them is in utter devastation - the F5 went right between them. We have no power, of course, so I may not be posting much in the next few weeks (I am at work now, which I really try to avoid posting here - but it IS my lunch break...).
There are loads of stuff on the internet about it (google 'pleasant grove alabama tornado') - but here is just one video link I ran across - this church (First Assembly of God) is right across the street from mine (First Baptist) - in fact, the video shows FB at the one-minute mark - it was relatively unharmed, other than losing the steeple and a few holes in the roof.


http://www.wkrg.com/alabama/article/pleasant-grove-picking-up-the-pieces/1206527/Apr-28-2011_8-17-pm/


It came through about 5-5:30 on Wednesday night... we all got in the low floor of my house, and waited it out. We heard the 'chug-a-lug' sound everybody always tells you about, all too clear - although it was like 'that's not REALLY a tornado, is it?'
It passed through, and about 10 minutes later, we went outside to see if any trees were down anywhere... nope - my little 'cul-de-sac' area was fine, sans power...but I noticed there was about a four-foot piece of wood with a few nails in it near my doorstep...I wondered, "now where did THAT come from?"
A few minutes later, when we were talking to neighbors, one of their teenagers came down the street yelling "It's all gone! Everything's destroyed!"...yeah, right. My thought was, "If our street is ok, everybody else is ok, right?" not quite...not at all.
We started walking over towards the center of town, which is over a few 'ridges and valleys'...and just a block over, some big trees were down.
Another block, some roof coverings peeled off, a few walls broken on houses, bigger trees felled...
The third block, no roofs, no trees... and at the end of that block, up a hill, is where Assembly of God sits (in the video). Once we got over the top of the hill... it was indeed mass and utter destruction...houses were completely obliterated, for a width of roughly one mile. You could see clear across town, for blocks, where trees used to be everywhere.
We kept on walking towards my old neighborhood, which was in dead center of the path of this thing...where we lived in a little'starter' house back seven years ago... on the way down the street, where you make the 'last turn' onto the street my old house was on, I honestly did NOT know where I was...got totally disoriented...no landmarks to reference...but we got our bearings somehow and trudged on.
We got to my old house, and the two walls that made the corner of our bedroom were all that were left... THAT'S an eerie, sick feeling, y'all...in some way, I would have preferred to have seen it totaly flattened - not sure why, tho...I DO know the folks that bought our old house only stayed in it a day or two a week (his wife had kids around the corner, and she went to see them every now and then...) - a very rich fellow with multiple houses - so hopefully they weren't there Wednesday.
We climbed over and through trees, in the relative dark - although it's pretty weird how 'light' it was at 9:00 or so, with no power for miles around - we jumped a hundred power lines (ALL were very dead, BTW), and got hit by another 'squall line' of rain blowing through, which just added to the overwhelming feeling of despair.
We went on around the area (although we probably shouldn't have, we just were checking to see if there was anything we could do...and yes, to see the impossible scene with our own eyes...) and finally heading back home, I was wondering if my current house would still be there, even though I left it fine just a few hours before... it was, praise the Lord, along with my family... just incredible that we came out so untouched, while the bulk of the city is gone.
Again, please keep this area in your thoughts and prayers... Huey's crew is fine, but we need to figure out how to help folks out...we are in a unique position to be able to have a 'home base' and walk over 4-5 blocks to help with recovery efforts...so that is our calling at this point.


So, I know this is NOT your typical Gingery post, but it HAD to be posted... thanks for the opportunity to 'get this all out'...


AND, thanks to all of you who support G-ology...y'all are the BEST!

Sincerely,

Jeff Walker
a.k.a. VKMfanHuey
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12 comments:

  1. Glad you and your mother are okay. We will keep you in our thoughts.

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  2. Your family is in my thoughts and prayers!!! :)
    At my school starting next week, we are having a donation going on to help out the people who weren't so lucky over there. I am for sure I will donate something!!!!!!!

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  3. I am so relieved!

    I saw a video Wednesday, on the weather channel website, how the huge twister went through Birmingham and I thought at once of you and your family. You are one of my very best blogger pals, and it would have hit me hard if....

    I thought about e-mailing you, but then I guessed you have trouble enough, worrying about family and friends in Birmingham. It is awfully tough if you have relatives in midst of devastation and they don't give you a call, because they possibly can't.

    Besides, Gingerology will be able to go on soon -- as soon you have electricity again. And that's good news as well.

    Oh my God, I am so relieved!

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  4. Huey,

    Thank you for the update as I have been worried about you. Like Clarissa I thought about emailing you, but with power out in many areas it might not reach you. Then I'd worry more. I am SOOOO happy to hear that you and your family are safe as are your homes.

    I'm keeping you and everyone in your area in my thoughts and prayers.

    Barbara

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  5. I am so sorry! How blessed you are that you and your family remained safe and sound. I am praying for you all.

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  6. Hope things are looking up a bit, I know it must be difficult. All the best to you and your family, will be thinking of you.

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  7. ...a BIIIIIGGG thanks to all of you... my family is doing well, and we are truly blessed... now we have to start helping everyone else... tough to know where to begin, but we HAVE to do something... currently, there are gobs of volunteers throughout the area, and tons of donated goods.... I think we (my family) will come in after the 'initial relief effort' dies down... to be there for the weeks to come.

    Here is a VERY special video, since it is of some dear friends of ours from our Sunday School class... their story is nothing short of amazing...God was definitely at work that evening, giving protection to so many...

    http://www.fox10tv.com/dpp/news/alabama/tornado-tosses-family-their-home-all-survive

    ...you will probably need to 'cut and paste' it to your address line. The Stewarts lived about two blocks away from our OLD house... I actually passed by their house about an hour or so after it came through, after they had been taken to the hospital. Lisa sent out a pic on facebook about 20 minutes before the storm hit, of her son Noah with his helmet on, entitled, 'Noah ready for the storm'...God is good, y'all...

    Well, again, thanks for all your thoughts and prayers for this time...obviously, this event will NEVER fade from Huey's memory... BUT...I am DEFINITELY ready to 'Get Gingery' soon, y'all!
    We still do not have cable/internet/phone, although the power came on Monday night around 9... so that is awesome.

    Hope to get with y'all SOON...
    Until then, y'all...
    KIG!!!!
    VKMfanHuey
    ---

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  8. Oh my, I'm just seeing this post. I'm glad you and your family are OK but I'm so sorry for your town! Sending hugs and thoughts your way!

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  9. Grateful you and yours made it through okay. I'll definitely be keeping you and your town in my prayers. Thanks for letting us know.

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  10. Huey,

    I'm thinking about you and everyone in your area. How about an update? Do you and your mother have your electricity, cable, internet restored? What has happened to all those who lost homes? The news organizations swoop down at the time of the crisis but move on quickly to the next story, so we don't hear about the aftermath. Hope you and your family are doing well.

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  11. Betsy and Amanda: Thanks for the kind thoughts... things are 'stabilizing', such as they are... again, I have been unaffected, well, except for no internet... but have nothing in the world to complain about. Hope all is well with y'all, and can't wait to get back to "blogging proper!" :-)

    Fioraon: Thanks for the kind words... as for an update, i will post here in a sec about how things are going... still no internet or TV, but, I have just caught up on my book reading, and more importantly, hanging out with my wife and kids. We have four TVs in the hpuse, and it seemed like every one of us are watching a different one... thus not really 'together' at all.
    But we are very well, Lady F! My daughter is finishing up third grade on Friday, and we plan to go on a 'short' trip somewhere pretty soon...of course, I am still angling for the 'Independence trip' for mid-July, but dang, all the rivers are flooding in Mizzou...well, the Mississippi side, anyway.

    Thanks, y'all - hope everything is Gingery where you are!

    VKMfanHuey
    ---

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Awards...Thanks, Y'all!!!

...I TRULY appreciate these, and the kind words regarding this blog...thanks for all the inspiration I have drawn from each of your blog sites, which are all awesome in their unique ways!!!
It is my hope that I can continue to make 'G-ology' interesting and informative regarding the 'Beautiful Science' of VKM, which is SUCH a great topic!!! ...And remember, your comments are what make Gingerology click - so keep cranking them out!

Thanks again, JW

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Hometowns to Hollywood Busby Berkeley Blogathon 2018

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