8:00am brought us all at church and ready to go. We added a vehicle when Del decided he could drive and we could load his small SUV with even more supplies. But Del didn't actually drive -- he was our official photographer and so Pastor Dave drove and Del photographed.
We were loaded, talked a bit about what to expect and after a prayer we were on the road. It was pouring rain when we left and it poured rain all day long!
If you read yesterdays blog entry you saw the professional job Monty did with tarping our truck. Good thing because not a drop leaked through. Upon arriving at the warehouse in Henryville we were able to open the tarp on 3 sides thus creating a tent like affect. I climbed in the bed of the truck and pulled the boxes to the end so everyone could carry them inside. We put the tarp back and it kept all our good dry as we distributed them into the areas all around town.
Del with his car also reloaded with supplies to go into the areas. Amazing just how much that small car held! And the pouring rain couldn't wash the smile off his face!
Pastor Dave and Jasmine waiting for the rest of us. You can see the Convoy of Hope semi in the background. They pulled out today but left quite a crew there to help manage the distribution of the emergency supplies.
Notice the size of this rootball on this toppled tree! Jasmine made the comment that it would be taller than her if she was standing next to it! Winds of 175 mph will do amazing things!
Probably the most photographed area of the city is where the schoobus was tossed into the brick building across the street. The kids attending the middle school directly across the street had been dismissed early due to the bad weather forecast. This bus driver had already left the school but saw the approaching tornado. The driver decided the only thing to do was to bring the kids back to school -- and they must have been very obedient kids because they all got inside and to safety just as the tornado hit. When the driver came out they discovered this sight -- the bus ripped from its chassis and the body slammed into and through the brick building across the street! Today they were attempting to remove the bus. One of the main problems was that a power pole on the street had fallen down onto the chassis and all the wires were strewn across the front of the bus. They used the crane to lift the body of the bus and then pulled the chassis out from underneath. They were still working on the body of the bus as we left early evening.
There goes the chassis! Notice the damaged church in the background and all the surrounding debris.
One of the main comments from everyone who went with me today was that pictures just don't tell the real story. When you stand in the middle of it, looking all around -- all you see is destruction. There's no getting away from it, nothing normal looking or feeling or sounding . . . just destruction. As we went house to house offering boxes of disaster relief supplies that held everything from food to cleaning products the reality of the situation sank in deeper and deeper. Personally speaking, it was so awesome for Monty and I to have so many friends from our own church go along and see just a bit of what goes into disaster relief. I know they came away with their lives changed.
We will be making another trip as we are still collecting supplies. It looks like I will return on Monday. At first I thought of returning Saturday but they are expecting so many volunteers to come in that day that I feel it would be better for me to wait until Monday. I also plan on visiting the newly set up Disaster Relief Center where I can talk with FEMA and see how things are going.
A big day . . . a wonderful day . . . a day where the joy of the Lord was able to come through us and hopefully into each homeowner we met!
We thank the Lord for the opportunity to praise Him by serving others!
Until next time . . . thanks to everyone who went today! We love you! Susan and Monty
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