Everyone knew there were storms in the area, but there was no warning of a tornado. Though there had been some recent tornadoes in other states, only thunderstorms and rain were predicted. The people in Graves County, western Kentucky, went about their business as usual that Tuesday afternoon, May 10, 2016. Suddenly, in the middle of the thunderstorms and torrential rain a tornado about 400 yards wide touched down! With about 2,400 people in its path and over 1,000 of them students and school personnel, the potential for disaster was tremendous. It was later determined that the tornado was on the low end of the EF3 scale with peak winds of 140 mph. Damages to homes, buildings and properties were estimated to be $3 million.
Gratefulness
Many people had narrow escapes. Graves County Sheriff Dewayne Redmon stated in an interview afterwards, “There was a Person very high and mighty here yesterday that saved a bunch of lives.” Who could he have been referring to? He went on to say, “God was with us yesterday, and He shifted that tornado right before it got to that school.” This was the Central Elementary School with so many children and school personnel. Sheriff Redmon was absolutely right to give God the credit for sparing so many lives, for it is God who controls the weather. God’s Word, the Bible tells us, “Fire, and hail; snow, and vapors; stormy wind fulfilling His word” (Psalm 148:88Fire, and hail; snow, and vapor; stormy wind fulfilling his word: (Psalm 148:8)), and “He causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; He maketh lightenings for the rain; He bringeth the winds out of His treasuries” (Psalm 135:77He causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain; he bringeth the wind out of his treasuries. (Psalm 135:7)). Sheriff Redmon further encouraged a spirit of thankfulness to God by saying, “You go to church this Sunday, and if you got kids that went to those elementary schools, you better get on your knees and pray, because God saved your kids.”
The Mayor of Mayfield, Teresa Cantrell, expressed the same sentiments. After the tornado narrowly missed two schools and the hospital, she said, “Anybody in the city of Mayfield needs to get on their knees and just thank God that we’re safe, because it was headed right towards Graves County Middle School, Central Elementary, and the Hospital. But by the grace of God it didn’t take a turn and hit those places,” Cantrell said.
Serious Damage
One man, Marty Winfrey, had a very narrow escape. In the middle of the storm, he left his home to check on his neighbors. After beating on their door and getting them out, Winfrey said, “They leaned down by their truck and the tornado took their trailer and left them sitting in the yard, unhurt, and I ran down the road ... looking for somewhere to hide and ... it was catching me. So, I just found a tree and bear-hugged it. And a whole 20 to 30 seconds later and it’s all gone.” “All gone” referred to Winfrey’s home, which was turned into a pile of rubble and deposited into his neighbor’s front yard.
Other businesses suffered heavy damages, but no lives were lost. An employee of Bennett Motors acknowledged that they were lucky to be alive. When they saw the tornado coming, they went into the office building and took shelter in a broom closet. They could hear the tornado coming, and they heard stuff hitting the building. When the twister passed, three buildings on the lot were leveled, and all 40 vehicles on the lot sustained damage. Neither the office building nor anyone inside it were injured. Another business to suffer heavy damage was Youngblood’s RV. The owner, Roger Youngblood, gives this account: “It went right beside the building. There was no damage to the building that we could find, but it destroyed several campers, flipped them upside down and tore them up. Luckily, no one was hurt. Just a scary experience, that’s all I can say.”
Seeing God at Work
A local reporter interviewed a couple who gave this graphic description of their experience. They had come into town on an errand and were in the path of the tornado. She asked them, “When you look down at yourselves, and you see that you’re OK, what goes through your minds?” Mary Powell said, “That God had an angel over us, and that’s what I seen, God is good, because that van, it just tipped it a little bit, and that tornado just went up over our van, because it came straight to us, when I said, Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! That tornado went up over [this] van.” The reporter responded with, “You guys are very lucky!”
These people experienced just how powerful and destructive a tornado can be. God was merciful to the citizens of Mayfield and Graves County. In the end, only ten people were treated for minor injuries. And yet, some people attributed their lives being spared to “luck.” The Bible says, “God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not” (Job 33:1414For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. (Job 33:14)). The Sheriff and Mayor saw and acknowledged God’s protecting hand over the people of Mayfield and Graves County, and yet others did not realize God’s merciful hand in saving their lives at all. God speaks to man in many ways, but a tornado should be especially hard to miss. God continues to speak to man because “the Lord ... is long-suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). God cannot allow sin into His presence, so He has made a way of salvation for lost man. He sent His Son, the Lord Jesus, to die on Calvary’s cross and shed His precious blood for our sins. He wants us each as individuals to come to Him, repenting of our sins, and putting our trust in the finished work on Calvary’s cross. “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3:1919Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; (Acts 3:19)). Please put your trust in Him while there is yet time — do not delay! No one in Mayfield was seriously injured, but that wasn’t the case for Jerry Mora. He had no pulse and wasn’t breathing. Find out why in Attack by Bees!