Thursday, April 28, 2011

Thankful for safety!

If you have seen any of the photos of the devastation across the Southeast, you will understand how very thankful we are that everyone at Berry is safe tonight! The last day and a half has been quite an adventure that I don't think any of us will soon forget. Around 9 am yesterday (Wednesday), a storm blew through seemingly out of nowhere that toppled hundreds of Berry's biggest oak trees in a matter of minutes, shut down power to half of Rome, and created devastating damage to many area homes (due to trees falling on them). As we all spent the day trying to grasp the extent of the damage (the graduation tree and dozens of trees around the President's residence among the most striking), we started hearing of the devastating tornadoes developing in Mississippi and Alabama. By 7:30 pm, it seemed that these monster tornadoes were headed directly towards us. As we all communicated by text and found various safe places (definitely a time when we were all thankful for the solid stone and brick construction that we often take for granted!), we awaited the worst and relayed radio messages to those without battery radios. There were a number of frightening moments as various cells barely went around us, and by midnight we were in the clear. Unfortunately, some of our neighboring communities were not so fortunate. While we spent the rest of the evening and this morning without power on campus (and I still don't have power at home as I write this on my iPhone), we are so fortunate to not be grieving loss of life and to be safe and secure in our beds tonight. I hope to post a slideshow of pictures taken around campus today to give you a small taste of what we have seen. Gratefully yours, Berry Volleyball.