Storms

The storms in the Midwest have been my focus this week. I have been glued to the tv watching the news coverage and at my computer getting updates.
I used to live in Joplin and have several friends there. I left around 3 years ago to move to Beaumont, but I have stayed in touch via phone and computer.
I watched the news coverage in dismay...so much damage, so many deaths. A business I had worked at...leveled. The school my kids went to...gone.My old neighborhood...wiped off the map.
It took a few days, but friends back in Joplin finally let me know they were okay. WHEW!!! I do have one friend I haven't been able to locate, but I am optimistic, as where she lives was not in the path.

The tragedy in Joplin is still unfolding. Many people are still missing. Homes and businesses destroyed.
I can barely imagine what the people there are going through.
My family went through a few tornadoes while we lived there, but nothing of the magnitude of last Sundays storm.

So, I know from experience that when those sirens go off, there is damn little you can do other than dive into a basement, a bathtub, a closet and hold on for dear life.

One thing that has not been addressed is the lead in and around Joplin. The entire city was once considered one of the worst EPA clean-up areas. So much lead in the very soil, that the EPA had people go in to scrap the topsoil off the yards, put down a special cloth to stabilize the remaining soil and then trucked in *safe* soil to cover over yards and parks and schoolyards, etc. I imagine the EPA will be making a return trip as Joplin is rebuilding to test soil and take precautionary measures.

Anyway, if you pray, pray for the people in Joplin. If you don't pray, at least send good thoughts their way.