Stormy Weather on The Big Piney River

Hello Everyone.

I wanted to share a story with you about an event that happened right in front of our camping area here a few Saturday nights ago. Hannah and her family were enjoying a few last hours of fun in the late afternoon out on the gravel bar on the Big Piney. According to her story, a storm descended upon them out of nowhere, blowing wind, rain and sand up in their faces.

They managed to get back across the river to the bank when they heard that sound of a tree cracking behind them. Someone screamed "RUN" and they all ran only to find more trees crashing down around them. Nine year old Jack got hit by a branch of a falling tree, but managed to jump up and keep running.

Miraculously, the whole crew managed to make their way to the safety of our cabin without getting killed. As it was, the rest of the "trees crashing around them" was really the 100 year old sycamore splitting into giant pieces all up and down the road. You can still drive down Hartford Road and see trees literally split in half from the force of that gale.

Although we have all been able to see the aftermath of the storm, Hannah and her family seem to be the only eyewitnesses of the event at Cedar Mere Riverside that day. It left them seriously traumatized but very grateful to have walked out with scarcely an injury. When they looked up the nature of the storm, they agreed that it must have been a microburst.

Apparently, microbursts form when a column of air within a thunderstorm cools rapidly due to precipitation. It is characterized by a sudden and powerful downward movement of this air, producing a storm with wind speeds that can exceed 100 miles per hour. These storms are typically less than 2.5 miles in diameter, usually lasting 5-15 minutes.

Microbursts can cause significant damage that can uproot or snap trees. They can cause structural damage on buildings. Thankfully, we were spared any damage at all except the loss of the sycamore tree.

The sheriff's department received numerous calls of fallen trees blocking the road. Our amazing county roads department cleared away nearly every trace of damage and blockage on Hartford Road less than 24 hours later. Many thanks to all of our county workers for their day and night hard work to clear the way for all of us on Hartford Road.

 I received a picture of Jack outfitted with his backpack for the day of school. It has been a very long time since a picture has brought me to tears like that---tears of gratitude for God's goodness that day for all of us. Everyone has been calling him "The Miracle Boy."

Although we will all miss the shade that our gigantic sycamore provided, I will not miss raking mountains of leaves every fall. Anyone living with a sycamore on their property will testify that they are a very messy proposition nearly all year long. So really for us, the storm was a blessing in disguise.

Yes, the blessing that day was profound. We count it as an excellent reminder that our God is a very present help in time of trouble. And we can rely on Him wholly to help us through

all of the storms in life.

Picture of 100 Year Old Sycamore Taken by an Admirer 2 weeks Before the Storm