Birmingham...

...and back.

Well...my mom and I made it to Birmingham. We drove down Tuesday, spent the night with grandparents, then got up Wednesday and finished the drive. Our search for a place for Paul and me to live next year started off well. We found a cute neighborhood, The Highlands, but did not like the apartments that were in our price range. We then started to hear the reports about a storm that was coming through. By 12:30, the storm turned into more than just a storm, and the entire city started shutting down. We were told to go back to our hotel and wait. We stopped by McAisters, picked up something for lunch and dinner (just in case we couldn't get out later - at this point it was only windy, and we really didn't think much of it). By 5:15, the skies darkened and the sirens sounded for the first time. We hurried down stairs to the lobby to find out what was going on. At the point, there was a tornado seen in Tuscaloosa, which was 45 minutes away from us. We continued to wait, watching the news reports of this devastating, mile wide tornado, and praying for those that were being hit. The tornado was expected to reach Birmingham by 6:15. Our hotel was about 8-10 miles south-west of the city, and when another guest came into the lobby from being outside exclaiming that debris from Tuscaloosa was falling from the sky, we actually ventured outside to see it ourselves. Sure enough, shingles, insulation, boxes, and other light flying things were falling from the sky - having traveled with the winds all the way from Tuscaloosa. In the distance we were able to watch the storm pass through Birmingham. We had strong winds and some serious lightening where we were, but nothing more. By 6:45 it was starting to clear up. And although the storm was over, the devastation had been done.

You can see the dark storm clouds in between the lighter ones on the side.

Dark clouds, and trees seriously blowing in the wind.

Trees were pulled up at their roots all throughout the city. Many of the roads were blocked due to fallen trees and limbs.

While Birmingham got hit, it was nothing compared to Tuscaloosa. The city was demolished to the point of some reporters saying it resembled the aftermath of a tsunami . The people of these cities are in our prayers as they being the long journey of clean up and rebuilding.

Then on Friday, my mom and I spend the day driving around the city looking at houses and a couple of apartment complexes. We found a few that I liked, but nothing for sure yet. Basically, Paul and I will continue to look at houses and apartments as they become available in the next few weeks, and we'll probably end up making one more trip over there before we have to move. God has a place for us, and we will continue to pray for it.

God Bless, everyone.