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November 15, 2006

Who Wants to Play Twister?

Apparently, the good folks of my hometown, Montgomery, Alabama:

MONTGOMERY, Alabama (AP) -- Lines of powerful thunderstorms pelted the South with heavy wind, rain and hail Wednesday, turning a skating rink into a hulk of twisted metal soon after the 31 preschoolers and four adults inside had fled to the only part of the building that turned out to be safe.

In addition to the skating rink, a nearby apartment complex and several business suffered damage. Before leaving Montgomery with Mrs. WWR some five years ago, we lived 1/4 - 1/2 mile away from all of this, so let me just say it before someone else does:

There, but for the grace of God, go I.

And, uh, for the grace of the Denver employer that offered me a job and a moving allowance and a signing bonus to move out here. And, uh, though they laid me off two years later, I got another job within about six weeks courtesy of my networking, job searching, and wicked interviewing skills.

But thanks be to God anyway, because, really, it's not like he gets credit for enough stuff, you know?

While we're at it, let's thank Him for saving the lives of those inside the skating rink. I mean, if stopping a tornado was too much for the Almighty, let's at least pat him on the back for only breaking one kid's arm. Hey, Yahweh, good on ya, mate... unless, you know, having a solid arm was gonna make that kid somebody. Why, he coulda been a contender!

Now he's just gonna be a bum... oh, the humanity!

Uh, anyway....

Authorities were unsure whether it was a tornado that hit the skate center about 10:15 a.m.

Oh, I don't know, check out the pictures below (taken by friends of mine back in the area) of the skate center and the apartment complex and you tell me if it looks like just a mighty wind.

That last photo is what's left of the skating rink: a wall and a mangled steel frame. Just think, if it weren't for Jesus, that picture would be empty except for the blood of children!*

* In all seriousness, though, a HUGE thanks to each and every person who rushed to the scene to help those children while God was too busy doing his nails or whatever. Y'all rock.