Approaching Storm

Rod was home on Friday afternoon about 5:30pm when he heard the warning sirens go off from the firestation up the road. Brenda called momentarily saying that she had finally gotten loose and was headed home from the hospital. The sirens sounded again, followed by an amplified voice warning. It sounded like it was only a block away, but I think it was coming from the fire station a good 2 miles up the road by Riverside School. Rod looked at the weather radar and saw the approaching storm.

Marty came over from next door to go to the basement. Brenda called from the expressway, having gotten a bit balled up in traffic at I285. I checked the weather radar again and had just captured the six frames in the loop shown below when the storm hit suddenly with high winds and sheets of rain. Brenda called again as she was passing Industrial Boulevard. She had been listening to the weather and knew that the storm was at Douglasville and that it was headed for Austell and Mableton. They were advising people to take cover. About that time the lights went out. A few minutes later I was relieved to see Brenda driving up in the driving rain. She said she was alarmed most coming down South Dillen with the rain so hard she couldn't see and tree limbs blowing everywhere.

With Brenda home and candles lit, we went downstairs and shared some hot bean soup with Marty for supper. I had just heated the soup in the microwave, anticipating Brenda's arrival, when the power failed. Praising God for our safety and the fact that even in times of extremity, you can find times of joy and fellowship.

This extremely rapid approach of a severe storm was taking place at the same time that Brenda was driving home from downtown Atlanta. If I could have superimposed her travel home on this movie, it would have shown her arriving home just minutes after the most severe part of the storm hit our house.