ROARING WIND

My heart goes out to the people in Tennessee and Alabama who suffered the devastating loss of life and property due to a tornado in the past week.

The closest thing to it that I have ever experienced was five years ago while living in Big Canoe, Georgia. At 2 a.m. I was awakened by a loud roar. I walked into my living room and slid open the door to the deck. The wall of wind that hit me was so strong that I slammed the door quickly to keep it from knocking me down.

Still sleepy and tired and not thinking soundly, I just ambled back to bed. A few seconds later a mighty gust of wind came up under my house. For a split second as the house shook it seemed like the whole structure was going to lift off the foundation. I heard horrible creaking and cracking sounds. And then it was still and quiet.

In the darkness I walked down my driveway to the street. I noticed a large tree lying across the road. When I returned to the house I called security to let them know that a tree had fallen down. Someone replied that there were reports that other trees were blocking the roads.

I was shocked by what I saw in the morning. I realized that horrible cracking sound had been trees falling down everywhere. As I ventured out into the community I realized that thousands of trees were down.

I

I discovered a tree about 20 inches in diameter was lying across the hood of my old CJ-7 Jeep. My other vehicle had the front and rear bumpers hit by falling trees.

I walked out on my deck and abruptly realized what that creaking sound had been. The screen porch and chimney had been pulled about 8 inches apart from the house.

Though homes and properties in our community had great losses, fortunately not a single person was harmed.