After the cold winter, we just could not wait for Spring to arrive.  It has.  And it has brought some pretty ugly weather conditions with it.  Although many in Middle Tennessee suffered damage from the most recent wave of storms, we really did dodge a bullet… what happened in Tuscaloosa could have happened here.  Check out this amazing footage of the storm developing:

If you would like to donate to relief efforts in this devastated area, the Red Cross (www.RedCross.org) is always there to help.  Also, the Alabama Governor’s Office is accepting donations through its Emergency Relief program.   Click here for details:

http://blog.al.com/breaking/2011/04/alabama_governor_gives_number.html

At the same time tornados ravaged Alabama, many residents in nearby Clarksville were evacuating their homes due to rising flood waters.  Clarksville has also been no stranger to severe weather.

http://www.theleafchronicle.com/

Franklin County, Tennessee also suffered extensive damage, with the entire county powerless after the storm.  Rutherford County, Tennessee  has also seen its share of severe weather this year.

http://www.wgnsradio.com/severe-weather-leaves-its-mark-on-rutherford-county/26480/

Whenever a storm siren is heard, events from the past flashback as if they were yesterday.  Everyone remembers the tornado that struck Murfreesboro in April 2009:

Although it has been 13 years since the famous April tornado in Nashville, I remember it as if it just happened.   At that time, I was organist at the Tulip Street United Methodist Church in Historic Edgefield.   As the storm subsided, I heard the church had been hit and went by to see the damage.  The sheet music I had left on the 100+ yr. old organ was still on the rack, opened to the page I left it.   The organ was untouched, but just a few feet away, an entire wall of the sanctuary had vanished.  Here is a link to that story:

http://www.disasternews.net/news/article.php?articleid=792&printthis=1

I really would like to say my playing “Amazing Grace” on the bells was divine intervention.  Actually, “Amazing Grace” was the only selection I could play in the dark!  Regardless, it was humbling to know that such a simple act had brought calmness to many.  Maybe it was “divine intervention.”

All around us are people needing a helping hand and even the smallest efforts can make the biggest differences.   You can never realize the impact of a gift, whether time, money, or items, until it is given.

That said, April is almost behind us.  The sky is clear, and beautiful weather is on the immediate horizon.  Let’s keep our fingers crossed that May brings those promised flowers and not what May brought Nashville in 2010!

Trey Lewis is a licensed Real Estate Broker in the State of Tennessee with Ole South Realty, 615.896.0019  direct 615.593.6340.  Specializing in new homes in the Greater Nashville area to include Nashville, Murfreesboro, Smyrna, Clarksville, and Spring Hill, Tennessee