Tornado April 27, 2011

You always say it will never happen to me. We could not have been more wrong. In the many years that I have lived in Ringgold it felt like our little town was always in a bubble. Every strong storm that came by would just disappear or move completely around us. Now we understand how safe we have been. Last night around 8:00 things started to get a little scary for our family. The news reported that a tornado was heading towards Ringgold with winds over 80mph. The kids were quickly put into the closet and we waited listening until the time was clear and was safe. We were not out of the closet for more than 10 minutes when we heard that the reporter say that it was on Cherokee Valley Rd. (This road is just a street over from where we live) We rushed the kids back in the closet and stuck it out for a little while longer. When the reports started coming in there was nothing that we could say but where in complete shock. Our little town was destroyed. There were many businesses that lost everything and some that had major damage. There were also three hotels that had roofs taken off. There were also 3 different gas stations that were completely destroyed and there is nothing left. The middle school where Madison goes is destroyed. The eight grade wing has no roof. The football field that is in between the high school and middle school only one light remains standing. The press box is in the parking lot. Field houses are half missing. There are also a lot of houses surrounding the school that looks like nothing more than rubble. The devastation is massive but we are truly blessed that we have a Heavenly Father that kept our family safe and our families surrounding us. We need to have faith and hope that we will prevail from this disaster and become stronger. Our little town will rebuild and we will be better than ever. WE ARE RINGGOLD