tornado damage | pray for my town

In April 2011, my home was hit by a tornado. I am one of those that were not taken by the storm and able to tell the story. I remember the house shaking and my mom praying over us pleading to God so that we would not die in that room together. When the storm had passed and the laundry room door was open, I realized that I survived and my house didn't. The governor of Arkansas came to my home and that's a picture on his website, when I saw my mom after being evacuated by the police the night before.

My poor community got hit again, this is the third tornado in the span of five years. Fifteen are confirmed dead so far and the names are familiar ones. The town I have been raised in my whole life is now unrecognizable, the places where buildings once stood are completely flattened. April 2013 will never be forgotten, neither will April 2011.

This is an aerial view of the damage. My heart is broken and I have not been able to sleep for five consecutive hours since I heard the news. I am so incredibly thankful to have such a strong support system at Harding that blew up my phone with concerned texts and calls. Thankfully the tornado was 1/4 mile off of the path it took two years ago, so it did not go straight through my home again. My family is safe and I cannot thank God enough.

I have heard so many inspiring stories in the last twenty four hours but I thought I would share one of them with you. There have been churches that have set up donation boxes for the people without homes. A homeless man donated a bag of quarters through this church, one of the most humble attitudes I have ever heard of. If you are near the area of where it hit, please get involves in any way you can.

Please pray, please donate, please help.