Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Middle America

As someone who has experienced tornadoes, I am amazed and horrified by the devastation in Joplin, MO.  It's almost inconceivable--those awful eight minutes, just after the high school graduation ceremonies.  And the weather prophets tell us that those poor folks may be in for dangerous storms again today.
If you or yours are in the middle of our country--Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, specifically--please be safe and prepared today.  We will hope the forecasts are wrong, but failing that, that you will all have warning and protection.
I cannot imagine this, but the local photographers, and those from outside news agencies, say that though we have seen unbearable images thus far, they feel unable to truly capture on video or in photographs the magnitude of what occurred.  That anyone survived is remarkable, that so many did not in a town of 50,000, heartbreaking.
I lived on the outskirts of a community of 50,000 in California, and cannot begin to fathom losing over 100 people in one event.  Everyone almost has to know someone lost.
Let's hope the best for these folks today, and remember that no matter what we believe, how we vote, or where we reside, we are all part of the human family and when someone is lost to us, we should all feel the sorrow.

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