Hope everyone is safe down South

my niece lives in tuscaloosa and her apt was hit tearing the roof off of her 3rd story apt, she and her roomate didn't have time to get to the bathroom but both were unharmed. her car was trashed and all of her belongings were trashed too. she was lucky. my next door neighbors parents home was destroyed last week...same thing, no time to get to safety but unharmed, she was crying telling me the story that her dad and mom said there goodbys as the house was coming apart. "if the thunder don't get you then the lightning will".

There has been an absolute parade of severe thunderstorms and flooding. Luckily no direct tornado hits in my area but the flooding in low areas is getting bad. The Mississippi River at Memphis may set a high water record soon, it's already at flood stage.

Next couple of days are supposed to be dry finally, so a little reprieve from all the storms.

It's rained so much that the local lake (Arkabutla in Mississippi) has risen 10 feet in the last 24 hours! This is a shallow flood control lake, that much rise that quickly is insane.

The Tuscaloosa tornado stayed on the ground all the way through Georgia, although it lost a good bit of its power when it came through the mountains. Passed about 10 miles north of me. Lots of destruction on lake Burton with vacation houses and boat houses smashed. I was sweating as my cat was upside-down in the yard due to repairs being made. I didn't have cover for it as my car and truck are worth much more than the cat and got their respective places in the garage. No hail at my house, but plenty of wind and rain and little sleep as we stayed up until 2:00 AM in case we needed to get the kids down to the basement quickly. We were blessed to be spared the carnage. Pray for those who have lost everything, including loved ones.

I am in Tuscaloosa and consider myself extremly lucky. I got out yesterday and did some volunteer clean up work. My hometown will never look the same, but this is a great little college town and the community is really pulling together to get things accomplished. The rain today is going to slow things down a bit but we will get started back tomorrow. You would not believe the rumors that are floting around here about death tolls and the small minority of looters.

Has anyone heard from Steve Karr (skarr)?

I have heard that his house and his parents house recieved some damage, but he is ok. I have not heard from him personally but considering where he lives he is probably without power.

thanks