Link

Storm Story ( Part 4 )

As I was reading over the last few notes I noticed a few more things that I should probably mention.
 First of all when I said that Arron went back to help after he came and told us that Mr. Boyd was going to come for us. That was wrong, he stayed with us. My mother reminded me of that when she read over it. Second of all I think it's important to note that Mr.King had also gone to help the Lees right after the storm, and had come back with my dad ( or shortly after ) to help us all get to the Boyd's safely.


             I've talked to some of the Lee's for many long hours about the night the storm hit. And although they were in a separate house, their story is very similar to ours, only probably a lot scarier. Abby Lee ( who is one of my best friends and I love her dearly, as I do all of the Lees ), told me about her point of view. So that's how I'll start off.

        Mr. Lee had gotten off of work early that day and was able to spend a little extra time with his family. ( By the Way I noticed that on Mrs. Sherry Lees blog she talked about how Mr. Lee got to spend a lot of time with his family Easter weekend, the weekend before the storm. They were able to celebrate together the most wonderful occasion any christian family can share, the resurrection of our Jesus. And this was posted before the storm. Isn't it nice how the Lord provides those little things for us to enjoy, little moments for us to remember each other by. )
      Abby also told me that Tiffany, the oldest girl, had been going to take a run just about ten minutes before the storm hit. But Mr. Lee stopped her because he knew the storm was coming, probably saving her life.
       Abby said she had seen the storm from the kitchen window. And since their house was somewhat on the bottom of a hill, when she saw it, it must have either been on top of us or had just passed us. She described it as a big gray cloud stretching from the sky to the ground, and said she couldn't see passed it on either side. But you could see a cloud of debris at the bottom. I think at this point it was too close to them for any of them to see an actual spin. At that point she announced that it was coming and ran into the den with her family.
        Some of the boys ran upstairs to get blankets to lay over everyone. On their way back down however the storm was already upon them. If I understood correctly, most of them made it back into the room but the last one ( they've told me who it was but I can't remember ) was sucked out slightly along with the door and then thrown back in. I'm guessing that this is around the time the house began to collapse. I was told that Mr. Lee threw himself over Jordan, his oldest son and I believe one of his sisters was under Jordan as well. I'm sure Mr. Lee was attempting to protect as many of them as possible. Tiffany had a few of the little ones underneath her. I'm not sure where all the little ones were but when it was all over, they were unharmed and were able to climb out safely.
   I heard Jesse say just last night that when he was talking to some of the Lees about the storm, Josh had said that when the windows got sucked out it sounded like a plunger sucking them out in one piece, frame and all. Some of the girls told me that when the house fell on top of them it felt like a lot of pressure pushing down on them.
      I don't have many details other than that because I wasn't actually in this house when it hit. But I do know that two of the older girls were able to climb out, one of them was Abby who said that she was able to push things off of her and climb out. The little ones were safe as well and were able to climb out along with the girls and a few of the older boys. The ones who were trapped were Jordan, Tiffany, Emily, Jacob and Mr. and Mrs. Lee. Mrs. Lee was in a pocket and unharmed, she just couldn't climb out from where she was. And I don't know how but she ended up with Mr. Lee's bible on her chest.
       I'm not sure exactly what order things happened in next but I know that Johnny and Josh went for help and Abby and her sister Beth were taking care of the little ones.
        Jesse told me that he had gone to see if anyone needed help before he ever met Josh or Johnny on the road. But somewhere along the way he saw Josh and Josh told him who was trapped and who was safe. So then Jesse headed to the Lees and Josh ran on to find more help.

       This is what Jesse told me happened from his point of view:
    When he got to the Lees, Beth and Abby were out along with all the little ones. I'm not sure if he talked to the girls but he did say that he shouted to Jordan and could barely hear him. He was able to tell Jesse who was safe and who needed help immediately.
       At this point there were many people there helping and all of them were willing to do whatever it took to get the Lees out. I only know a few names however and only a few points of view, so I'm going to stick mostly with Jesse's. Hes one of the only ones who has told me in detail what he went through that night.

      Oh and before I go on, I was told by many people who were there that, before Mr. Lee passed, when everyone was still trapped and waiting for help. He had said a quiet prayer for God to keep his family safe. I only wish I could have seen his face when he met Jesus. And when Jesus told him "Look. I am already bringing help to your family. I am keeping them safe."



         As far as I know Jesse along with Stephen and his younger brother Michael Boyd, Arron, Mr. King, my dad and some other neighbors who had come to help were there at first.( Abby said that when she saw  those men come over the hill, it was the best sight shes ever seen ) And according to most everyone I've talked to about it, Jesse was able to take the lead. God had been preparing him for this ( he along with my dad have been volunteer firefighters for a while now and he has taken some very useful medical classes and became a first responder), because He knew that Jesse would need to be able to be there in order to help save lives. And that is why all of those men were there that night, because God lead them there to do His will.
          From what Jesse said, he had to dig a hole to get them out, ( I think it was probably more like a tunnel ) which took a long time in and of itself, although the tunnel into the rubble was not very long at all. My father said that as he stood and watched from outside the rubble he thought that if it collapsed it could kill everyone trying to get the Lees out. And it very well could have collapsed. But it didn't.
          Jesse said that at first Stephen Boyd and my father were right behind him, helping dig the hole and pull things out of the way. When they got far enough in ( they were on their hands and knees and sometimes stomachs crawling ) they reached Jordan Lee and his father. Mr. Lee was pulled out first and then Jordan was helped out. Jordan couldn't walk at first from what I understand but as soon as he could he began to help dig the others out. Jesse was at the head of the hole the whole time, and all the others I have mentioned were behind him dragging or throwing things out and doing whatever they could to help.
         After much more digging they made it to Tiffany and Emily where they were trapped under their piano. Jesse said that he went to get Jacob out first who was trapped and sort of laying on the back of the piano. The whole time, Jacob was helping him move stuff out of the way, even though he was still trapped. From what Jesse said there was a floor  ( the top floor ) and then a wall that Jacobs head was trapped under. His head was stuck between the wall and the piano. So Jesse had to try and prop it up. I believe this is probably the part where he started asking for jacks and those behind him went and found some and passed them back. He said it was very difficult to jack it up at all because there was a lot of weight on Jacobs head. He said he used a bucket for cribbing and eventually was able to left it all up just enough where Jacob could get his head out. And as soon as he did, the bucket was crushed by the weight of the wall.
   So Jacob was helped out and went to a little building called the retreat center, which was the only building left standing on the Lees property. This is also where they had sent the rest of the family.
      Next Jesse started working on Tiffany who was the closest to him, she was pinned under the piano. ( I was also told that at some point Emily began to sing Amazing Grace and trying to get the others to join in. This is also what the other girls had been doing with the children outside. ) And after much jacking and digging and moving things he was able to wiggle her out as well. And she was carried to the retreat center. After that was Emily, who's legs were up under the piano and after some more long minutes of trying to jack it up and prop it up and jack it up some more and prop it up some more, he was finally able to get Emily out as well. And she too was carried to the retreat center. Now the only person left was Mrs. Lee.
    Although she was not that far away it still took some time to get to her but once they did they helped her out as well. I'm not sure what happened to the rest of the men at this point but Jesse said he went to the retreat center to check on everyone. There were a lot of thank you's and I love you's going around. And Jesse made sure that everyone was okay medically. He said that they thought at some point that Jacob wasn't going to make it and at another point that Tiffany wouldn't. Tiffany told me later that she could feel her heartbeat slowing. I think her and Jacob both felt like they might not make it at some point. But they did. Abby told me that at this point she was helping Tiffany and trying to keep her breathing, she said that her breaths were long and slow and there were pauses in between them that were much too long.
        After this is when Dad, Arron and Mr. King came back to us. I believe that everyone else went on to other places to see who they could help.

       All of the men accept Jordan I think went on to help others, and spent mostly all the rest of the night doing this. Some came to the Boyd's and some stayed out all night. I think they were all mostly going in and out all night long.

   Around two in the morning ambulances made it to the Lees and took them all to the hospital.

                                                                

Joy in Adversity

      Today marks the one month anniversary of the day storms swept through the south, destroying homes and tearing lives apart. On that day we had no idea just how much we would go through in the following weeks. Sorrow and heartache have been plentiful. But we were not left hopeless. In fact it's times like these when we realize just how much hope we have.
     It's easy to focus on the negative or bad in situations like these. But even in the midst of pain and devastation, we have joy.
   We have joy in knowing that there is a God who loves us and is with us always. We have joy in knowing that we will not be abandoned. We have joy in knowing that all of this is only temporary.
    When I look around at the family and friends who are going through the same things I am. It gives me joy to know that I am not alone. And that, no matter what, I will always have their love and support.
     We also have the joy of  little things. Like a sweet smile, a hug from a friend, an encouraging word or just knowing that we have people who are always there for us. But most importantly, we have joy in knowing how God is working.
    Throughout the past few weeks, things have unfolded before our eyes that we simply did not see before. Situations where God has used heartache and devastation to bring glory to Him. Just look at the example you've seen in His people all over the state. Trials and difficulties have not brought them down. But made them stronger.
    
       
      What would life be like without trials and difficulties? Would everyone be in sheer bliss all the time? Probably not. We would be an unlearned people who are unconcerned with anyone other than ourselves. That's just human nature. But God knows that, and so He uses trials and difficulties to build our character and make us stronger. So that we may live up to the calling He has for us.
       So, as we draw closer and closer to the end of all this madness, I rejoice in knowing that God loves us enough to put us through this. He is not willing that we should go through life without learning the valuable lessons He has to teach. And I pray that my heart and mind will stay open to His teaching. 



                             I’ve found his grace is all complete,
                                   He supplies my every need,
                              While I sit and learn at Jesus’ feet,
                                           I am free indeed.

                                  What kind of joy is this?

                       It’s joy unspeakable: all you’ve done for me,
                          It’s indescribable, just a taste of your glory,
             And it’s unnatural not to tell the story of all you’ve given me,
                                    My words are incomplete,
                                         It’s joy unspeakable.

"The flower that blooms in adversity is the rarest and most beautiful of all."

 






Link

Storm Story (Part 3)

The reason we stayed in that closet for so long was because first of all, we thought there would be another storm. After all that's what James Spann had been saying just moments before. And all of the mothers in there were not about to bring their babies outside when all the madness may not be over. Secondly was because we knew that there were downed power lines, rubble and broken things everywhere, and as far as we knew we had know where else safe to go. So we waited for the men to come back.

  Let me stop here and tell you the story from the other side of the stair case. I talked to some of the Boyd girls about what was going on in the laundry room. And they had much the same story. They all huddled up in corners, most of the Boyd's are older, I think only two of them are still under the age of ten. My mother told me that she had been in there to start of with and I think my little brother Steven had too. But she left because she felt she was needed more in the other room, and Steven followed her. They had left the door open in their room for a few seconds. And then Mr. Boyd decided that it needed to be closed, so he closed it. After a few more seconds of nothing happening, he opened the door to look out. What he saw was the french doors directly opposite to them shaking back and forth under the pressure, and about to break.  So he closed the door and at that point he had to push against it to keep the wind from coming in. Just as Jesse was doing in our room. Only they were, like I said before, directly opposite to the french doors. We were down in the hallway a little bit. I don't have many details about what went on in that room, mainly because  I've had very little time to talk to the Boyds about it. But I know that they were afraid just like us. Steven Boyd was protecting his mother and another one of the Boyd boys was in a corner with his hands over his head. This is what the girls told me. When it was over, they came out and so did we. Like I said before, the two older boys went to help the Lee's, Kevin and Ashton eventually came into our room, and the rest of the Boyds went to see if their house was okay.

   While we were waiting we went out to see what things looked like. I do remember that just before the Boyds left, Mrs. Boyd and a few of her older girls and I stopped just under the now broken french doors to pray for the Lee's.
  Gina, Bria, Kevin, Wesley, Steven ( my little brother), Ashton and I all went out at some point to look around. We never left the house but we did walk around in the room with the TV. If you go watch the interviews I posted with Arron and Mr. Boyd you'll see this room. It wasn't completely destroyed but it wasn't whole either. The roof was still standing but that's because the roof of the basement was a concrete slab on the ground. However when we looked up the stairs all we saw was daylight. ( It wasn't dark accept for while the storm was passing.) I wanted to go up and find my backpack which I had left up there along with a bag of food, but I decided not too right then. Bria found our weather radio, sitting in the same spot we left it and we took it back to the room so our moms could listen to it. I dug behind the couch and found my flip flops which I had taken of and left there. They were under a pile of insulation and boards but still in one piece. There was insulation everywhere. The stairway was full of it especially, full of it and plenty of other stuff making it difficult to climb the stairs. After the moms listened to the weather radio for a while they learned that there would not be another storm coming our way. And so they relaxed a little. I remember Mrs. Crawford saying she wished it was all just a bad dream, and she could wake up and it would be over.
   We got blankets and pillows for the kids and scooted back the shoe shelf to make room for pallets. They were all very tired and worried, back when they were all still in the closet we had sung then songs and read them stories but it only helped a little I think. So we let them lay down and rest a while, it was dark now and close to midnight I think.
    Bria had earlier decided to go upstairs and salvage what she could, Gina had gone with her that's where I found them. It was dark at that point and we couldn't see much of the destruction accept for what was left of upstairs, which wasn't much. There was one wall left standing in the center of the house, and there was debri everywhere. The living room where we had been talking not too long ago was covered in insulation like everything else and broken boards. But the couches were still there, buried but still there. And so was the wood burning stove that had been in their living room. However behind it was nothing, where a wall used to be.  Bria found the flash to her camera and saved it for a light. I told her where my backpack was along with the bag of food that we had brought and she found them both. She found a few other things as well but I don't remember what they were. Then Kevin or Wes started saying that Mrs. Crawford wanted us to come back down. So we did. We took all these things back downstairs and into the closet. So we now had a weather radio to warn us if another storm was coming, a tripod flashlight that had been in Jesse's or Steven's backpack and was now lighting up the whole room, pallets and seats for everyone in the room, some food and I had brought a water bottle full of some kind of juice or lemonade which I shared with Avi later. Steven had also had a few water bottles in his backpack and we passed those around. After I went and got Mallie a pillow, I sat down next to Gina and Kevin. I guess this was around 12:30 or so. We sat and pondered, and thanked God we were all okay, and prayed for our men and for the Lee's. And talked amongst ourselves.
   Shortly after this, when some of the little ones had gone to sleep Arron came back. He came in and told us a few things, one was an update on the Lee's. I believe he said that Tiffany, Emily, Jacob, and Mrs. Lee were all still trapped and that Mr. Lee had already passed away. This was not the first time I'd heard this news, just a little while before this Gina, Bria, Ashton and I had been standing next the the french doors getting some fresh air ( it was very hot in the closet) when someone came and said that Mr. Lee had died. I wasn't there when they told Gina and Bria and Ashton, I was on my way back to the room when Ashton came and told me. It didn't register at first I had to ask him more than a couple of times to repeat himself. And it still didn't sink in until later.
    Now however I think Arron needed to stop for a moment, so he laid down on the floor with his face to the ground, just in front of his wife. They talked for a moment and I think prayed as well.
   He told us after that, that Mr. Boyd was on his way over to us, that the Boyd's house was still standing and Mr. Boyd was going to bring everyone over to it. Then he left to continue helping. We waited about an hour after that before Mr. Boyd got there.
  When he did, all the adults made sure that each child was with an adult or young adult. Mr. Boyd had said that there were power lines down and trees and fence lines that we would have to go over and under to get there. So we needed to keep the little one we had and make sure not to touch any power lines. Most everyone had someone, I had Kyla at first but Bria ended up with her and then Mr. Boyd. I ended up with Mallie, And I can't remember but I think Mrs. Boyd was there too. Anyway we gathered up all our things, the tripod flashlight, the weather radio, my backpack, the food, and my extra shoes. It was very cold and windy that night. So, since we were in the clothes and shoe closet, they had everyone put on some kind of close toed shoe and a jacket. I didn't put on a jacket, I was hot enough already. It was raining when Mr. Boyd first arrived but by the time we got out there it had mostly stopped. We left the pillows and blankets and chairs and everything that wasn't essential. Took the hands of the children and went out.
   I thought we were going to go the way the Boyds did, out the french doors, but instead we went up the stairs. We climbed through all the rubble and ducked under power lines before we even got out of the house. I remember trying to take Mallie behind me, but it didn't work so well, because she was trying to pull me along. When we got up into the open air, the wind hit us and I shivered. But Mallie shivered more, the zipper on her jacket was broken so she couldn't zip it up. But I don't think she was that worried about it. She just wanted to get where we were going.
    I am so thankful for Mr. Boyd, he lead us calmly and easily over and under every obstacle which eased the minds of all the mothers who had little ones. We passed the banquet hall, which Kevin had earlier told me was gone too, and I saw the brick chimney had fallen straight forward right in the middle of the hardwood floor where we used to have bible study every Sunday night. When we got out to the driveway we all stopped to make sure everyone was accounted for. Once we knew this for sure we continued, down the driveway and out to the road. I asked Mallie if she was okay and if she wanted me to carry her, she was still shivering. She said she was fine and no. And kept pulling me along. When we got to the road we stopped again, that was the first power line. It was slightly below head level, we passed it easily and waited on the other side. As I looked around I could see nothing because it was dark, and no moon or stars either. You could only see where the flashlights were shining. But I did manage to see that there was some kind of vehicle in the ditch next to the driveway and a fallen tree next to it. Still I had no idea hoe bad it all was. We went on through a swampy field, I remember scraping my ankles on briers on the way there and ignoring the pain because I didn't want to stop. "Hurry up." Mallie kept telling me.We went on through trees and under and over power lines and through a field. The weather radio which Kevin had put in my backpack was going off about storms in Georgia, I wanted to stop it because everyone didn't need to hear that at the time, but I couldn't so we just let it go until it was done. Finally, we made it to the Boyd's, I asked if we should take off our shoes and Hannah Boyd said we should so everyone did. Mallie let go of my hand and ran inside and so did everyone else. They, of course didn't have power, so the girls had lit candles everywhere and they had everyone come to the living room.
    For a long time none of us could even think about sleeping. So we sat and talked, and thanked the Boyd's, and waited to here from the ones who were still out helping. Before long Mr. Smith, a friend who used to come to the Cedar House, made it through the rubble and debri and brought us blankets and food which we were lacking, and it was a cold night. On top of that the Boyd's had left the windows open so that it didn't get stuffy. Arron came in at one point to check up on everything ( oh and by the way, my dad had come back long ago to help with everyone, he had come back when Arron cam back the first time, and so had Mr. King so they were with us the whole time.) and told us that the Lee's were out, and the boys were still helping where they could. He also told us that there were six bodies lying on the road that they had pulled out of the rubble. I think that was the first time it really began to sink in. I think he left again, but I'm not sure. Mr and Mrs. Boyd and the older girls stayed awake for a while, it was close to two in the morning now. Jesse came in around this time, but didn't stay for long. He had to go continue helping as well. I asked if he was okay and he said he was ( I'll tell you his story in the next note) I remember laying next to Bria trying to go to sleep. We ended up talking about the night for a while. She said how she wished the Lee's would have come over, and how thankful she was that we were all safe. She went to sleep after a while and I think I did for about 30 minutes to an hour. But I got back up and went to the porch, we could see the lights on the road from emergency vehicles. I went back in and I think at this point everyone was mostly asleep, I remember seeing Gina with Mallie, talking to her as she fell asleep. I went and sat in an empty chair trying to fall asleep. At this point everyone was asleep, everyone accept little Kyla. She was sitting just behind her mother on the couch asking me questions in her high pitched questioning voice. I told her to whisper, but then I couldn't here her. So I motioned for her to come sit with me and she did. She asked about the lights on the road, and I told her those are the people who are helping us and others. She asked other questions as well but i can't remember them. I kept having to remind her to whisper. Soon though she nodded off. Mrs. King saw that I was still awake and said that I could put her on the floor and go to sleep, but I told her I was fine. She offered me a blanked but I said I was fine. Than she told me that if I needed anything to let her know. She herself was 3 or 4 months pregnant and had a little one sleeping next to her. She was very strong throughout the whole thing. After a few more minutes the floor started to look really comfortable. So I got on the floor, took the pillow off the chair I had been sitting on and laid down with Kyla next to me and finally got a little sleep.