Deadly Winds Close to Home

Last night I went to sleep with the weatherman of one of the local TV stations describing the storm situation around Louisville and southern Indiana. This morning I awoke to the news that a “tornado ripped a 20-mile-long path through northwestern Kentucky and southwestern Indiana, killing at least 17 people and injuring 200 others.” The death toll is expected to grow.

At the moment it is too early to know all of the details of the damage of last night’s tornado. It is, however, another natural disaster to add to the list of death and destruction that has been growing since the tsunami of last December. And for me personally, this one has struck very close to home.

The area where the tornado ripped a devastating path is a hundred miles or less from Louisville. It is less than fifty miles from where I pastored a church for eleven years. In other words, this disaster hit closer to me than any of the preceding ones. I have already sent an email to our Conference office requesting information on how our churches are responding to the needs of people affected by the tornado. I have telephoned folks I know in southwestern Indiana to obtain information. I am praying for the victims.

I am also thinking about the status of those victims. From what I have determined thus far, the majority lived in the Eastbrook Mobile Home Park in Evansville, where the damage is described as “extensive.” Mobile homes are the most vulnerable to tornado damage and the folks who live in them are usually not wealthy. I ponder this in relation to all of the disasters of the past 12 months.

However, now is the moment for action; reflection will come later.