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The storm had Knocked down trees and telephone poles,leaving hardly a stone unturned. |
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On March 20,1998 at approximately 3:38p.m. time would take its toll on many people in the towns of Stoneville,Madison,Mayodan and even Eden would feel a great deal of pain and loss. The extensive damage that occurred that day would leave its mark on many people.High winds had ravaged the small towns;Stoneville being hit the worst. The Storm had knocked down trees and telephone poles leaving hardly a stone unturned in some areas.Some homes suffered wind damage; some were hurt,others in disbelief.There were deaths and property loss,many peoples dreams swept away in a matter of minutes. Everyone was in shock. This was a day that will never leave my mind,or my daughters. Every cloud in the sky is a constant reminder of how close we both came to death. On this day, a force so destructive,some people could never imagine,happened in Rockingham County. There were many stories from many people,This is mine. My daughter Brandi Durham and I both work at Liberty Embroidery,in Madison,N.C.At 3:00p.m. we punched the clock,as we both walked out the door we had no way of knowing what was about to happen.We had to go to McMichael High School to pick up her cousins,Pete andRita.As we entered the school circle,it was packed with cars.Everyone was rushing to get out,it was Friday,and I guess everyone had somewhere they had to be. There had been some talk about a Tornado touching down in Georgia,where eighty people were injured,and eleven people lost their lives.There had been no warning for those people;nothing had showed up on radar. Some people at work had said the same storms were headed this way.Some said we were under a tornado watch,I remember telling Brandi, "I've never seen a tornado,and i don't think we have anything to worry about here". Pete and Rita were walking to the car and I glanced at the clock,It was 3:17. I was hoping,we could get home and beat the storm.I am terrified of storms and didn't want to get stuck in one,If I could help it. Brandi had noticed a huge black cloud behind the school.She said;" If there is going to be a tornado,it will come from that cloud".We turned to go out of the circle and I noticed the traffic jamming up in front of us. I heard Brandi speak,but I didn't understand what she said so I turned to look at her.She looked as if she was in shock,Her face was white as snow and with tears in her eyes,she screamed; "Mama, there is a tornado".For a split second I thought she was kidding. I was always pulling jokes on her,and I thought this was her way of getting me back. It only lasted long enough for me to turn and look out my window.I felt all my strength and breath leave my body.The Tornado was forming in the sky,right in front of us. A small funnel appeared,as it twisted it picked up clouds growing bigger and stronger.The air was saturated with a dark haze,which seemed to be growing deeper and darker by the minute.I looked over at Brandi in disbelief,we were trapped in traffic,there was no where to go. I was screaming,"Brandi,get us out of here!" At the same time she was screaming,"we're stuck! I can't move!" There were cars in front and behind us,and cars still coming in,which made it impossible for Brandi to turn the car around."panic set in all around!" Nothing had prepared us for what was about to happen,and i didn't see any hope of being rescued at this point. People were standing at their cars or hanging out of their windows staring in shock.Only on T.V. had I ever seen a tornado and I don't think i have ever been so terrified. Pete and Rita were in the back seat screaming at Brandi to get us out of there.It seemed we all depended on Brandi to get us to safety. It was not until we got to the highway that we dicovered the tornado was headed straight for us.We didn't relize it at the time but,our lives were about to change ,never to be the same again.As Brandi was trying to make the right decision which way to go,the tornado was getting bigger and stronger.She had only seconds to decide our fate. Brandi was praying out loud that God would take control,and lead us in the right direction,at that critical moment in our lives,It is no doubt that God did take over,leading us straight down highway 135, a way home we never took.Brandi had her emergency flashers on and was blinking her lights,trying to motion people not to go the way we just came.We had lost track of the tornado at this point.The trees were so high that we couldn't see which path the tornado had chosen. We were all in shock,In my mind I knew we were all going to die.I t would soon catch up with us.It was like a large Demon,andgod was our only refuge.As I was praying,I remember looking down at Brandis leg,It was shaking so hard,I don't know how she was driving.I checked the speed odometer;we stayed between 70 and 80 mph. I was afraid we weren't going to be able to go much futher,But with Brandis' courage,and God in total control,we made it to safety. We turned into Winn-Dixie parking lot.This seemed to be the sturdiest building we had come across.We all jumped out of the car and ran into the store screaming"There is a tornado coming",Some people looked at us as if we were crazy and some ran out of the store to see.Otheres just kept on doing what they were doing,until the sirens of fire trucks, police cars and ambulances started to blow,speeding up highway 770 going to Stoneville. we didn't know the extent of damage it had caused at that time,but later we found out that the tornado had taken the path we normally travel home everyday.We knew then that God had been our leader through it all. Yes,we all remember the devastation of the Tornado that hit March 20,1998. Nature has earned our utmost respect,and at the same time our faith in God,and Our love for each other has grown stronger.We let each other know how much we care everyday,For just as God spoke in the Bible,we are not promised tomorrow,we respect his word and live by it everyday. |
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