Record Tornado Outbreak

Yesterday was a very bad day for a lot of people. Numbers are still coming in, but hundreds are dead, thousands homeless, and the quantity of tornadoes yesterday, over 170, has far surpassed the record set 37 years ago.

The worst tornado outbreak in U.S. history occurred in April 1974, when 148 twisters touched down in 13 states over a 16-hour period, according to the National Weather Service. The agency said 330 people died and 5,484 were injured in a path of damage that covered more than 2,500 miles.

The worst of these was a mile wide F5 that destroyed most of my wife Melinda's home town, Xenia, Ohio.

Yesterday's rush hour tornado that hit Tuscaloosa just south of the University of Alabama was the same kind of beast. It had been on the ground for 2 hours and continued through more towns after Tuscaloosa. There are a number of videos of the tornado churning through town on the Alabama Fox 6 station.

The path was just a few blocks south of the University Church of Christ where we've had teams stay on the way down or back from Katrina relief trips. I've traded a couple texts with Sandy who organized our stays. Knowing this church and their proximity to ground zero I expect they'll be working with members and the community to help recovery. While tornadoes usually do not require outside assistance, our relationship with this congregation and the scale of this damage may mean we are needed. I'll post updates here and on facebook