A Swift, Deadly Blow

"A Swift, Deadly Blow" that is the headline of this morning's St. Paul's Star Tribune Newspaper. (Photo credit: Jim Mone, A.P.)

When I was growing up, one of my girlfriends had a sister who lived in Southern Minnesota. She and her husband only lived there a few years, and then they moved back to PA. The reason? They did not like the tornados that would come through there. They survived one, and said that the area was famous for getting them, and after being in one, they decided they were leaving Minnesota!

That was the only thing I knew about the state of Minnesota, other than that it bordered one of the Great Lakes. When I came here as a bride in 1969, it was winter so I wasn't thinking of the tornados that Gloria talked about. I was only dealing with the minus below zero temps those first three months, and the cold summer by the lake.

Since then, I have seen the damages done in the southern part of our state, through the local newspapers and TV reports. There have been several very bad onces out west and down south over these 38 years. Local people from Duluth have always told me that Lake Superior keeps the tornados away from us. Sure, we get high winds, hail and thunderstorms, but the only tornados we hear of around here are in our nearby towns skirting Duluth. We've had tornado watches and warnings here, when tornados are reported near us. I particularly remember two times when our family prayed for safety huddled in our basement. Both times, everything was fine, no tornado in Duluth.

Last evening a bad one went through Hugo, Minnesota, which is a northern metro suburb by St. Paul. A 2 year old child was killed and eight people were seriously injured. It destroyed or serverely damaged about 150 homes. Thousands of households were without power and downed trees blocked roads, slowing rescue efforts.

The families of Hugo are in our prayers, and we in Duluth are thankful that we have the big lake by us that keeps tornados out of our city.