We made the turn and managed to drive a bit faster as the road changed to a four lane. We couldn’t find the hotel for a few minutes, and once we did it was raining so hard my wife, daughter and grand-daughter had to make a run for it, but the fact is that with the grace of God we did find it, and we did have a room waiting, and we did make it into the sanctuary and out of the fury that Mother Nature had unleashed upon us that night.
Go to the Time-Series of Hurricane Ivan Images for a look at Ivan from space.As I parked the van at the hotel, I heard the announcer say that the Jackson County Correctional Facility had been struck hard by the storm, and for a second I worried about the safety of the prisoners there. After all, being under lock and key meant they had absolutely no options. They would stay in their cell and accept whatever nature threw at the building. I also shuddered at the realization that the facility is very close to our home, and I knew that we may not have a home left to go back to.
I recall thinking that even if some of the prisoners escaped, they would be in the same situation we were in, and that, of course, was facing the full fury of a rampaging Mother Nature. I never once gave a thought to any of them being a danger to the families or to the homes in the area. Even if they escaped from their cells, where could they go? With gigantic trees and parts of buildings being tossed about like sheets of paper, I would imagine the safety of the prison would look pretty good at the time.
However, the next bit of news from the announcer did give me pause to think. The Sykes building, the very place I had contemplated seeking refuge, had been almost completely destroyed by the tornado, and I admit that I wiped away a few tears of relief as I digested that information. My family and I hadn’t been inside it.
Some two days later, even though we hadn’t been able to get very close to the Sykes building, from the vantage point of the main highway we could see that the devastation was overwhelming. And from that vantage pint, it was plain that the corner of the building where my “safe” office once stood was completely destroyed.
There’s no doubt in my mind that someone, some higher power, was watching over my family and me as we desperately raced toward safety, and that the same someone tempered the fury of the storm with some amount of mercy. After all, the tornado touched down less than two miles from our home, it followed close behind or close beside us at least part of the time during our fearful flight to Dothan, but it didn’t harm anyone in my family, nor my home, in any way at all.
I am eternally grateful that we survived the storm, and my deepest sympathy goes out to those less fortunate than my family and myself. My prayers are with those who lost their homes, their property, and in some cases, their lives.
I honestly believe God was riding in the car with me, and it was his hand that took control of the van for the last few miles and delivered us from evil into the safety that only he can give. After all, if He can create a storm such as this, we have to believe that surely He can find a way to protect a handful of his children. You can’t tell me there isn’t a higher power that watches over hard headed old men who try to ride out things they have no business trying to ride out.
God willing there will be no next time, but if there is, when I hear the first news that the feeder bands are dropping tornados out of the sky and they are marching across the land toppling trees and homes like dominoes, I’m packing up and taking off as soon as the first cloud darkens my doorway.
