Where Were You

The above pictures are from the evening and next day after the April 27 tornado that from McDonald's Chapel.

As we approach the one year anniversary of the April 27 tornadoes I am sure the question will be asked where were you when it happened. I was sound asleep in Birmingham, Alabama doing what I do best on my off days. For a reason unknown to me at the time I suddenly woke up from my nap around 5PM and was informed by my mother that we were under a tornado warning. Well my first instinct was to turn on the television and watch the weather. About the time that I turned the TV on I saw the first images of the F-4 tornado as it was cutting its path through the City of Tuscaloosa, I was in awe. I have always been a weather junkie especially when it comes to tornadoes. There has always been something about them that has amazed me. However watching that tornado destroy areas that I knew put a fear in my body never before done by a tornado. Little did I know that the same tornado that I was watching destroy Tuscaloosa would hit another area I knew very well in Western Jefferson County in less than an hour. I had spent the last 6 month working for a pizza company in Hueytown, Alabama. Our delivery area consisted of Hueytown, Concord, & Pleasant Grove, Alabama. Well if you were watching you know that, the communities of Concord and Pleasant Grove both took direct hits from this tornado as it had continued to cut its path of destruction across this state. Less than 10 minutes after it hit there, it hit an area I once lived and spent the good majority of my life living in McDonald’s Chapel. I was living in McDonald’s Chapel in 1998 when an F-5 tornado for all intents and purposed completely destroyed half of the community and shattered many lives in the process. Well this time this tornado decided it wanted to hit the other side of the community cutting a path straight through the middle of McDonald’s Chapel on its way to hitting Pratt City, Alabama. As I am still watching this news coverage of the tornado they mention that it was headed for the Birmingham Airport area which is where I currently live. I then started to get scared. Fortunately by God’s grace it took a slight turn and missed this area. Once we were given the all clear, I left for McDonald’s Chapel to see if anything I knew was still standing. It missed our house by less than a quarter of a mile but did level the houses of many people I knew.
I know my story doesn’t compare to the others who lost everything including loved ones on April 27, 2011 but I felt that I should tell it any way so I can answer, where were you?
Till Next Time….