Alabama's most recent disaster

Top Alarm System has been kind enough to offer local bloggers a chance to make a difference with regard to the tornadoes that hit the Birmingham-metro area yesterday. They have pledged to make a $25 donation to the Christian Service Mission for every post written about the disaster, provided that we bloggers alert them by linking up on their website.

Having seen the devastation on the news, I had to jump at the chance to do my part to contribute to Top Alarm's Disaster Relief Program.

It seems as though the events of last April 27th occurred no more than two months ago. As you drive through the areas that were most severely affected, it's astounding to still see such visible reminders of the storms. Tree tops look as if they were sheared off with dull hunting knives. Blue tarps still cover roofs and missing siding. Some homes are still in their completely demolished states, abandoned, never to be rebuilt.

So for more tornadoes to come through night before last, well, it just added insult to injury. You may have heard about one of the people who was killed, a 16-year-old in a suburb of Birmingham. One of my coworkers lives on her street and was out at 4 a.m. yesterday, helping search for her. Devastatingly, when she was found, she wasn't alive. As a parent, I can imagine no greater grief.

Please keep our city and state in your thoughts and prayers. Most of us have returned to work, to school, to normal life with perhaps momentary annoyances of travel detours due to downed trees, or at worst, power outages at home. But for the people who lost entire homes and for those who lost loved ones, life will never be the same again. The simple sound of a siren or the shape of a polygon in a textbook will forever bring back memories they'd probably like to bury forever.

If you're a blogger, I ask that you write a post about the events and then comment on Top Alarm's page to let them know. And if you're not a blogger, please take just a moment and remember those who are in such need today.