Winter Storm Jan 2009 - declared Natural Disaster

NWA has been declared a Natural Disaster area and the government has supplied aid to those in need. Some families have been out of power since Tuesday and won't be back up until Feb 2nd. We were very fortunate to be out of power only one night and then intermittently through Thursday night.

Below are some excerpts from our local power companies:
"The peak of storm outages was 59,000 Tuesday night at 8 p.m."-- Swepco

"Today (Friday) Ozarks Electric Crews, along with 130 personnel from other cooperatives and contract companies have worked in Arkansas and Oklahoma to continue power restoration efforts to 22,000 remaining cooperative members still without power. Doubling the workforce with outside resources has helped speed the recovery efforts. Besides 500 broken poles throughout the system, the main obstacle has been the enormous issue of trees, limbs and debris scattered on roadways, and over power lines."

Below are some of the local pictures our family took.

The Davis' were practically enclosed in their home-- trees came down in front and behind their house and they had to cut trees to get in and out of their home. Their biggest loss was a huge tree that was completely uprooted in their back yard. Fortunately, their trampoline was not crushed as originally thought and at least one of the pear trees may make it. Below are pictures from different angles -- the tree was so massive, it couldn't be captured in just one pic.





Notice how the tree house is standing upright and also that the swing set wasn't damaged! Blessings!


Matthew took the next two pics through a screen -- gives them an interesting "look".




The pic below is the next door neighbor of the Davis fam.



Next, we've captured some of the road coverage by downed trees -- this is still a common sight.

Hardly a tree in NWA was spared damage--- by the end of the week, many were stripped down to little more than their trunk.

This is the front of our old house on Pin Oak -- MANY tree limbs down in their front and back yard.

Many tree limbs down on the sides of our current yard -- this is by the garden.

We don't know if this tree by our pool is going to make it... and, speaking of our pool... the pipes broke and will need to be re-built before summer--- anticipating it being very expensive repairs!

Picture of our neighbors trees taken from our back porch.

Although the ice ravaged the landscape in its path of destruction, it was also quite breathtaking when captured by the sunlight.

God, please heal and restore our land and our people. When devastation hits our land, I am reminded that it is not "natural" at all-- it was never intended but is a result of sin entering the world.

Romans 8: 18-22 (Paul writing to the church in Rome)

" I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. "