A Bad Weather Day

By now most of you have heard about the nasty weather that blew through Alabama today, including the horrible tornado in Enterprise. We drove through some very bad storms south of Montgomery around 3:30PM. The straight line winds and driving rain were a little unnerving, and we constantly scanned the horizon for any sign of a funnel cloud. Thankfully, we never saw one. But others were not as fortunate.

As we traveled down I-65 today, we were on the phone with my younger sister who lives in Ozark, Alabama about 20 minutes away from Enterprise, the hardest hit area. Her husband is a physician and was at the local hospital there when some of the injured started coming in. He knew prior to the news breaking nationwide that there were many casualties and fatalities at Enterprise High School, so we had an early inkling of what was to follow later this evening.

As of a few moments ago, there were 18 known fatalities in Alabama, with 15 of those at Enterprise High School. The school had been evacuated earlier, but apparently there were still many teachers and students lingering in the building when the tornado hit.

Although we don’t normally play Enterprise in soccer, their team has traveled to Huntsville several times during the past few years for the Final Four of the state tournament. I assist with the Huntsville Sports Commission by serving as a host for visiting teams, and I have had many pleasant encounters with the folks from Enterprise over the years. Please pray for these good people as they continue to search for victims and begin the long process of grieving and recovery.

It’s been a long day. We’re safe in Orange Beach. But there are many suffering about 100 miles northeast of where we are, and our hearts and prayers are with them.