Wild Weather

[HisDaughter]

US nears record tornado year; meteorologists don't know why

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/05/27/america/Tornadoes.php


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Another week, another rumbling train of tornadoes that obliterates entire city blocks, smashing homes to their foundations and killing people even as they cower in their basements.

With the year not even half done, 2008 is already the deadliest tornado year in the United States since 1998 and seems on track to break the U.S. record for the number of twisters in a year, according to the National Weather Service. Also, this year's storms seem to be unusually powerful.

But like someone who has lost all his worldly possessions to a whirlwind, meteorologists cannot explain exactly why this is happening.

"There are active years and we don't particularly understand why," said research meteorologist Harold Brooks at the National Severe Storms Lab in Norman, Okla.

Over the weekend, an extraordinarily powerful twister ripped apart Parkersburg, Iowa, destroying 288 homes in the town of about 1,000 residents, said Gov. Chet Culver. At least four people were killed there. Among the buildings destroyed were City Hall, the high school, and the lone grocery store and gas station. Some of those killed were in basements.

The brutal numbers for the U.S. so far this year: at least 110 dead, 30 killer tornadoes and a preliminary count of 1,191 twisters. The record for the most tornadoes in a year is 1,817 in 2004. In the past 10 years, the average number of tornadoes has been 1,254.

"Right now we're on track to break all previous counts through the end of the year," said warning meteorologist Greg Carbin at the Storm Prediction Center, also in Norman.

And it's not just more storms. The strongest of those storms — those in the 136-to-200 mph range — have been more prevalent than normal, and lately they seem to be hitting populated areas more, he said. At least 22 tornadoes this year have been in the top part of the new Enhanced Fujita scale, rating a 3 (for "severe") or a 4 ("devastating") on the 1-to-5 scale.

The twister that devastated Parkersburg was a 5 — the first in the U.S. since a tornado nearly obliterated Greensburg, Kan., just over a year ago. The Parkersburg tornado was the strongest to hit Iowa in 32 years.

So far, more than 50 of the deaths this year have been in mobile homes, the wrong place to be during a tornado. They have been a factor in nearly half of all tornado fatalities in recent years.

And if that's not bad enough, computer models show that the conditions that make tornadoes ripe are going to stick around Tornado Alley for about another week, according to Brooks.

The nagging question is why.

Global warming cannot really explain what is happening, Carbin said. While higher temperatures could increase the number of thunderstorms, which are needed to trigger tornadoes, they also would tend to push the storm systems too far north to form some twisters, he said.

La Nina, the cooling of parts of the Central Pacific that is the flip side El Nino, was a factor in the increased activity earlier this year — especially in February, a record month for tornado activity — but it can't explain what is happening now, according to Carbin.

Carbin explained the most recent tornadoes with just one word: "May." May is typically the busiest tornado month of the year.

A short-term answer is that the nation's heartland is stuck in a tornado rut with usually temporary weather conditions that can lead to tornadoes parked over the Plains, said Adam Houston, a professor of meteorology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Cooler air at high altitudes and warmer moist air coming from the Gulf of Mexico are combining and settling over the region.

"You get day after day of severe weather and day after day of tornadoes until the pattern changes," Houston said.

But why that happens, Houston doesn't know. While scientists can forecast hurricane seasons, predicting their land-bound cousins is much harder, Brooks said. While tornadoes, like hurricanes, rely on large-scale weather phenomena, the crucial triggers are extremely local weather conditions.

On top of that, tornadoes have a "Goldilocks" issue. To make a tornado, the conditions have to be just right. Too much or too little of one ingredient and there is no tornado. For example, wind shear — when upper and lower winds are at different speeds or coming from different directions — is crucial to create a funnel cloud. Too little and there is no spin. Too much and the tornado falls apart.

And tornadoes form most often in late afternoon, between 5 and 9 p.m., so if a thunderstorm starts up early in the morning, it's far less likely to throw off a tornado, Brooks said.

As for why so many people are getting killed, Brooks suggests thinking of the landscape as a dartboard: "We're throwing more darts and throwing bigger darts than normal."

More people are living in mobile homes in the past few decades, and that has shown up in tornado fatality statistics. In 1970, about one-quarter of all tornado deaths were in mobile homes; now it's about half, Brooks said. In 1970, Census data showed that 3 percent of the U.S. population lived in mobile homes; now it is 7.6 percent, with a higher rate in the Southeast and other parts of Tornado Alley, such as Oklahoma, Brooks said.

But as deadly as this year has been, it used to be far worse in the United States. In 1925, tornadoes killed 794 people. From 1916 to 1936, tornadoes killed an average of nearly 280 Americans a year. That's because tornado warnings were not as good, people couldn't hear them and housing was not as sturdy, Brooks said.

Even with a busy tornado year, meteorologists are getting the word out. Of the 110 deaths so far this year, 101 came while there was a tornado watch in effect, according to the National Weather Service.

[nChrist]

Hello GrammyLuv,

I've lived in Oklahoma all of my life, and I'll say that the weather has been strange over the last several years. However, I would make NO ATTEMPT to connect it to GLOBAL WARMING that doesn't exist. Our temperatures have actually been lower than normal.

I remember times in the 1980s with many days between 115 and 120 degrees. Those times were NOT associated with rough weather and tornadoes. I've read several articles that indicate a shift of the jet-stream, and I would guess that has dramatic effects for areas that normally don't have tornadoes. We live in far Southwest Oklahoma, and we've seen a shift of rough weather to the North. We've still had many nights with rough weather and tornado watches, but we've mainly just been hit with severe thunderstorms. For us, we consider a thunderstorm to be severe if the winds are over 60 mph. We have many storms up to 50 mph that we really don't pay much attention to.

Folks like Al Gore can offer wild and uneducated guesses about any kind of weather or disaster pattern, so I can also. The unusual weather and disaster patterns are all over the world, and I don't think they have a thing to do with global warming. If a wild guess is to be offered, I'll guess possible signs of the End Days of this Age of Grace. Bible Prophecy does mention all kinds of disasters, including weather, and I think this is a much more intelligent guess than GLOBAL WARMING. When the prophecies are actually fulfilled, it will be much more obvious than the possible previews we are seeing now. The magnitude of the disasters we are seeing now are also tiny in comparison to Bible Prophecy. NATURE has the potential to easily release the power of many nuclear weapons in a single event. This is why we have an area on the forum for news on volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, and more. It's simply VAIN for mankind to think he has any control over these things. In fact, it would be just a senseless as saying that we can control the sun or movement of other planets. The NEWSFLASH is that GOD controls these things - NOT MAN!

Talking about things like this around Al Gore would be dangerous. He might be able to come up with all kinds of new con games.

[HisDaughter]

Folks like Al Gore can offer wild and uneducated guesses about any kind of weather or disaster pattern, so I can also. The unusual weather and disaster patterns are all over the world, and I don't think they have a thing to do with global warming. If a wild guess is to be offered, I'll guess possible signs of the End Days of this Age of Grace.

I was already smiling, because I KNEW that's what you were going to say! 

[Soldier4Christ]

Heavy storms have been hitting the MidWest states for some time now. One storm system clears the area and another one moves in shortly after. This is not at all unusual weather for this area but it has been quite awhile since it has been seen. There has been quite a few thunder storms, tornadoes and heavy rain causing a large amount of flooding in many states from Oklahoma north to Minnesota and Wisconsin and from Kansas to Ohio.

Currently the state of Wisconsin has issued a warning on many of their dams which are failing because of the heavy rains. Several dams have already failed and more are on the verge. The National Guard has been deployed and mandatory evacuation is in effect for many of these areas. Indiana has also reported that many of their dams in the central state region are also in danger of failing. The Coast Guard has also been deployed to rescue those in already flooded areas with the Military helping in sandbagging operations throughout the Midwest.

With this flooding many states south of these areas will face flooding along the rivers as the waters increase and move southward.

The rain in these areas continue today and another storm front is building onto the west coast which is expected to move into the Midwest by Wednesday increasing the risk to these areas.

[nChrist]

Brothers and Sisters,

Many people do need our prayers. Rough weather is nothing new for Oklahoma, but the size and frequency of the storms is greater than I can remember. A recent storm front that came through this part of the country was hundreds of miles long. However, I know this is just a small sample of the power of nature. Bible Prophecy tells us there will be a time of MUCH MORE, and that time might be near.

As Christians, I'm convinced that the best things we can do are to PRAY and ask GOD to use us however HE Wills. For us, GOD'S Will is always a good thing. GOD'S WILL BE DONE! - AND IT WILL BE!

Love In Christ,
Tom

 

[HisDaughter]

We're having a pretty wild wind storm in Seattle tonight ourselves!  Alot of folks are with out power already and it doesn't look like it's going to die down anytime soon.  This mission is in a VERY old building and one of our lady's window has blown out tonight.  Prayers are most welcome for our ladies, children and building tonight...

[HisDaughter]

We're having a pretty wild wind storm in Seattle tonight ourselves!  Alot of folks are with out power already and it doesn't look like it's going to die down anytime soon.  This mission is in a VERY old building and one of our lady's window has blown out tonight.  Prayers are most welcome for our ladies, children and building tonight...

Please add to that prayer...my health.  I'm not feeling real well today and I'm suppose to be going on vacation Wednesday!

[Soldier4Christ]

My prayers are with you and the mission daily, sister. I will say an extra one in this.

We're getting a lot of rain here tonight but the winds are fairly calm so far. The storm drains are handling this rain so there isn't the flooding of the streets that we have been getting.

[nChrist]

Hello GrammyLuv,

Sister, you are in our prayers every day, but we'll make the prayers more specific.

I was just thinking that many missions and ministries are in very old buildings. Your post also made me think about many pleasant memories of sweet Christians over the years serving the LORD in many ways. This was the pleasant side of law enforcement in getting to see what GOD can do with limited resources. Human needs in our own country are great, and you know that I'm talking about things many people either don't know about or don't care about. YES - we do have people here who are hungry - need shelter - need medical attention - and need other necessities of life. Lots of people have the mistaken idea that conditions like this apply ONLY to other parts of the world. Most of all, we have many people in our own part of the world who need to hear GOD'S WORD and be given Christian materials. We've done a pretty good job around the world, but I honestly think that we neglected our own during the same time frame.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Ephesians 1:18-23 NASB I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

[Soldier4Christ]

Levees break as Midwest floods worsen
Storms overnight add to swollen rivers, food prices impacted

With rivers still rising, towns submerged and crops ruined after days of rain, the Midwest was told Wednesday to expect up to 4 more inches through Thursday.

"A cold front approaching from the Plains later on Wednesday through Thursday will bring the greater threat for not only heavy rain, but severe weather," the National Weather Service stated. "Rainfall amounts from 1 to 4 inches look likely for the Wednesday through Thursday time frame.

"With the grounds well saturated, much of this would runoff into rivers and streams already high with recent rainfall, leading to more river flooding," the agency warned, citing Iowa, southeast Minnesota and Wisconsin as flood watch areas.
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Tuesday saw new levee breaks that swamped Illinois farms and homes — part of a week of severe weather in the nation's heartland that's claimed 15 lives and put new pressure on crop prices.

Three levee breaks along the Embarras and Wabash rivers in Illinois were causing widespread flash flooding of nearby areas — including Lawrenceville, a town of 5,000, and several smaller communities.

About 200 homes are in the immediately affected area, with water up to the roofs of some of them.

Between 50 to 75 square miles of farmland was flooded along the Embarras River, said Lawrence County Sheriff Russell Adams.

In Wisconsin, engineers kept watch over rain-deluged dams Tuesday after a major collapse nearly emptied Lake Delton in a torrent that washed away houses and a highway.

And officials in Cedar Falls, Iowa, were telling residents and business owners in downtown to begin preparing for a possible evacuation as the Cedar River keeps rising.

The river reached more than a foot above the record 98-foot crest in 1999 on Tuesday morning. The downtown area in the town of 36,000 was blocked off and no one was being allowed in.

City Administrator Susan Stout told MSNBC that the river could top the town's 102-foot levee late Tuesday or early Wednesday.

"It does not look good," Stout said.

The widespread flooding was caused by violent, drenching weekend thunderstorms that displaced thousands of residents in several states.

The downpours flooded corn fields and made it difficult for farmers to plant, pushing corn prices to record highs on commodities exchanges this week.

New storms during the night knocked out power to more than 50,000 customers in Ohio, utilities reported Tuesday. Michigan utilities said about 247,000 customers were still blacked out because of the weekend storms.

The rainfall also has created flooding concerns along the Mississippi River. The National Weather Service predicted crests of 10 feet above flood stage and higher over the next two weeks at places including Hannibal, Mo., and Quincy and Grafton, Ill. Most of the towns are protected by levees, but outlying areas could be flooded.

"This is major flooding," weather service hydrologist Karl Sieczynski said of the Mississippi. He urged people in unprotected flood plain areas to seek higher ground.

Can lake be rebuilt?
In Wisconsin, an engineer assessment team from the National Guard was headed to Lake Delton on Tuesday to determine what would be needed to begin repairs on an embankment along the man-made lake that gave way, releasing a powerful current.

The 267-acre lake emptied into the nearby Wisconsin River on Monday, washing out part of a highway, sweeping away three homes and tearing apart two others.

Don Kubenik, 68, burst into tears after seeing the 2,800-square-foot home he built in 2003 snapped into pieces when the lake's embankment burst. The businessman from the Milwaukee suburb of West Allis said he spent every weekend there.

"That house had everything you can imagine and now it's all gone," said Kubenik, who was in West Allis when the lake overflowed. "My boat's gone. The pier's gone. Everything is gone."

The water pouring out of the reservoir also ripped away buried sewer lines, and a contractor started work Tuesday to stretch a temporary sewer line across the 200-yard breach. Raw sewage was still pouring out of the pipes and downstream to the Wisconsin River.

Lake Delton, a key part of the Wisconsin Dells tourism area, was nearly dry by Monday afternoon. The 20 resorts that line the lake already are reporting cancellations by people who had planned summer vacations in the area.

Second time around for town
Residents of Gays Mills, about 70 miles southwest of Lake Delton, stood on the edge of their ruined town, so close to finally turning the corner before this latest flood.

For nearly a year, the tiny southwestern Wisconsin village along the lake has struggled to survive after a devastating flood. The new deluge may have sealed its fate.

Flash floods inundated the town of 625 over the weekend, just 10 months after residents worked to rebuild their homes and businesses.

The swollen Kickapoo River engulfed nearly the entire town Monday morning, forcing about 150 people to evacuate. By evening, the village was a grid of canals with cars submerged up to their windows and parking lots looking like lakes, just as it was in August.

"I can't believe this is happening again," said Liz Klekamp, 23, who said she grabbed her cat and fled Monday morning when water poured into her house. "It's really, truly sad."

Asked if this was the end of the town, Village President Larry McCarn just stared and said: "It could be."

In waterlogged Indiana, military crews joined desperate sandbagging operations Monday to hold back streams surging toward record levels, and rushing water breached dams and washed out portions of highways.

Indiana officials said they could not give a dollar estimate on the damage or the number of homes and businesses destroyed by flooding caused by up to 11 inches of rain on Saturday. Two more inches fell Monday.

Some 200 Indiana National Guard members and 140 Marines from North Carolina helped local emergency agencies sandbag a levee of the White River at Elnora, about 100 miles southwest of Indianapolis. The White River was forecast to crest Tuesday at nearby Newberry at 16 feet above flood stage.

By Monday morning, flooding at eight sites in central and southern Indiana had eclipsed levels set in the deluge of March 1913, which had been considered Indiana's greatest flood in modern times, said Scott Morlock, a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Indiana.

The weekend's heavy rain and the threat of more heavy rain later this week could push corn prices even higher, analysts say, likely adding to Americans' growing grocery bills. The price of corn for July delivery jumped to a record of nearly $7 a bushel Monday on the Chicago Board of Trade, up from around $4 a year ago.

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels asked U.S. Agriculture Secretary Edward Shafer to declare farm disasters in 44 Indiana counties because of crop and livestock losses blamed on the flooding and other storms this month.

The weekend death toll included eight in Michigan, three in Indiana and one each in Iowa and Connecticut. Authorities said wet roads contributed to the deaths of two motorists in separate accidents Monday in Oklahoma, where more than 4 inches of rain fell.

Meantime, the East Coast is being baked by a heat wave. Heat watches and advisories were in effect Tuesday from North Carolina to New Hampshire. New York City recorded a high of 99 on Monday.

[Soldier4Christ]

4 Boy Scouts die as tornado hits Iowa camp
Rescuers find some victims buried under rubble, 48 people injured

The Midwest remained on the lookout for more tornadoes Thursday, after two twisters Wednesday killed six people — four of them Boy Scouts at an Iowa camp where Gov. Chet Culver described the devastation as "horrific."

"The devastation was massive through the campgrounds," Culver told NBC's "TODAY" show.

The twister Wednesday night set off a frantic search to reach others in the piles of debris and downed trees in the hills of western Iowa. Forty-eight children and adults were injured.

"All four of the young men who were killed were Scouts," Culver said. Three of the victims — Josh Fennen, 13; Sam Thomsen, 13; and Ben Petrzilka, 14 — were from Omaha. Officials said the fourth victim was Aaron Eilerts, 14, of Eagle Grove, Iowa.

Culver paid tribute to the Scouts who came to the aid of their injured colleagues, describing them as "the real heroes of this story."

"I'm very proud of the young men who were up there who were able to help the Scouts in need," he told TODAY. "I think lives were saved."

Tornadoes also raked Kansas on Wednesday, killing at least two people, destroying much of the small town of Chapman and causing extensive damage on the Kansas State University campus.

NBC's WeatherPlus service warned that "more tornadic activity is possible especially later in the day," adding that "the storms will gradually shift into the Ohio Valley as we work our way into Friday."

Tornado siren
Lloyd Roitstein, an executive with the Mid America Council of the Boy Scouts of America, said a tornado siren went off at the camp.

The boys had been in two groups when the storm hit the Little Sioux Scout Ranch in the remote Loess Hills. One group managed to take shelter, but the other was out hiking.

At least 42 of the injured remained hospitalized Thursday morning, with everything from cuts and bruises to major head trauma, said Gene Meyer, Iowa's public safety commissioner. At least four of the injured were airlifted from the camp, he said, refusing to elaborate on their conditions or identify the dead.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and the families of the victims," Culver said. "We continue to do everything we can to make sure those injured are going to recover."

All the scouts and staff were accounted for, Meyer said, adding that searchers were making another pass through the grounds to make sure no one else was injured. The camp was destroyed.

Thomas White, a scout supervisor, said he dug through the wreckage of a collapsed fireplace to reach victims in a building where many scouts were seeking shelter when the twister struck at 6:35 p.m.

"A bunch of us got together and started undoing the rubble from the fireplace and stuff and waiting for the first responders," White told KMTV in Omaha. "They were under the tables and stuff and on their knees, but they had no chance."

The nearest tornado siren, in nearby Blencoe, sounded only briefly after the storm cut power to the town, said Russ Lawrenson of the Mondamin Fire Department.

Sounded like a jet
Taylor Willoughby, 13, said several scouts were getting ready to watch a movie when someone screamed that there was a tornado. Everyone hunkered down, he said, and windows shattered.

"It sounded like a jet that was flying by really close," Taylor told TODAY. "I was hoping that we all made it out OK. I was afraid for my life."

Ethan Hession, also 13, said he crawled under a table with his friend.

"I just remember looking over at my friend, and all of a sudden he just says to me, 'Dear God, save us,'" he told TODAY. "Then I just closed my eyes and all of a sudden it's (the tornado) gone."

Ethan said the Scouts' first-aid training immediately compelled them to act.

"We knew that we need to place tourniquets on wounds that were bleeding too much. We knew we need to apply pressure and gauze. We had first-aid kits, we had everything," he said.

Ethan said one staff member took off his shirt and put it on someone who was bleeding to apply pressure and gauze. Other scouts started digging people out of the rubble, he said.

Agencies praised
At a news conference Thursday, Culver praised the scouts for "taking care of each other" as emergency workers from several state and local agencies cut through debris to reach the camp.

Roitstein reminded reporters at the news conference that the Boy Scouts motto is "Be Prepared."

"Last night, the agencies and the scouts were prepared," he said. "They knew what to do they knew where to go and they prepared well."

The injured were taken to Burgess Health Center in Onawa, Alegent Health Clinic in Missouri Valley and Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha.

Burgess spokeswoman Beth Frangedakis said 19 victims arrived at the hospital around 8:30 p.m. They included children ages 2 months to 15 years, plus three adults.

Frangedakis said four were admitted to the hospital, one was taken by helicopter to Mercy Medical Center in Sioux City, Iowa, and the others were released. She wouldn't release the nature of the victims' injuries.

David Hunt, chairman of the Mid-America Boy Scout Council's Goldenrod District, which covers several eastern Nebraska counties, said he believed the boys were from eastern Nebraska and western Iowa.

The 1,800-acre ranch about 40 miles north of Omaha includes hiking trails through narrow valleys and over steep hills, a 15-acre lake and a rifle range.

'Relieved'
Gayle Jessen of Fremont, Neb., said her 19-year-old son Zach is a staff leader at the camp. He called his parents to say he had a bruise on an arm and was being treated at a hospital.

"I'm so relieved my son is OK," Jessen said. She said her husband was headed to the hospital to pick up their son.

Lawrenson said parents will be reunited with their children at a community center in nearby Little Sioux.

The tornado touched down as Iowa's eastern half grappled with flooding in several of its major cities. The storm threatened to stretch Iowa's emergency response teams even further.

Tack said officials were confident that the state's emergency response teams could handle the crisis because western Iowa had been largely unaffected by the recent flooding.

2 fatalities in Kansas
Tornadoes also touched down in central Kansas, killing two, as well as southern Minnesota and eastern Nebraska.

A tornado caused significant damage in Manhattan and Kansas State University, tossing cars and destroying several businesses.

One person was killed in Chapman, where part of the roof of the high school gymnasium was torn off, emergency officials said.

Sharon Watson, spokeswoman for the Kansas Adjutant General's Department, said a half-mile-wide tornado tore through the town Wednesday night, destroying more than 60 homes and numerous businesses.

Image: Residents look over tornado damage in Chapman, Kan.
Orlin Wagner / AP
Residents look over tornado damage in Chapman, Kan., Thursday.
She said another victim was found dead outside a mobile home in the Jackson County town of Soldier.

A tornado ripped a house from its foundation, leaving a bathtub protruding from a back wall near Fulda, Minn., 140 miles southwest of Minneapolis. A woman inside at the time suffered a knee injury.

Another struck a farm near Springfield, Minn., causing extensive damage to outbuildings, but no injuries to people or livestock.

There were no immediate reports of damage from the Nebraska twisters, though a lightning strike knocked out radar at the National Weather Service's office in Valley, about 30 miles northwest of Omaha.

[nChrist]

Brothers and Sisters,

Things like this are yet more examples of just how uncertain this short life can be. We can be and should be in prayer for others every day - especially for the lost. Our own lives are just as uncertain, and the RAPTURE of the CHURCH WHICH IS THE BODY OF CHRIST could be at any moment. Only GOD Knows the Appointed Times.

I'll be praying for the families of these four young scouts who died and many others. We know there should be comfort when a Christian goes HOME, but there is still sadness for the grieving families and friends. A dear Christian friend of mine died in his car last night with a massive heart attack. He left 6 children, his wife, and a large number of grandchildren. Any number of things could be us, our loved ones, or our friends. Are we all ready?

Love In Christ,
Tom

GOOD NEWS!

1:  Romans 3:10 NASB  as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE."

2:  Romans 3:23  NASB  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

3:  Romans 5:12  NASB  Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned--

4:  Romans 6:23  NASB  For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

5:  Romans 1:18  NASB  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,

6:  Romans 3:20  NASB  because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

7:  Romans 3:27  NASB  Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.

8:  Romans 5:8-9  NASB  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.

9:  Romans 2:4  NASB  Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

10:  Romans 3:22  NASB  even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction;

11:  Romans 3:28  NASB  For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.

12:  Romans 10:9  NASB  that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;

13:  Romans 4:21  NASB  and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.

14:  Romans 4:24 NASB  but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,

15:  Romans 5:1  NASB  Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

16:  Romans 10:10  NASB  for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

17:  Romans 10:13  NASB  for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED."

Thanks be unto GOD for HIS unspeakable GIFT!, JESUS CHRIST, our Lord and Saviour forever!

[Soldier4Christ]

Gov. Blagojevich Declares Disaster in 7 Illinois Counties

 Gov. Rod Blagojevich declared disaster in 7 counties along the Mississippi River in anticipation of record breaking flooding. On Friday he sent a letter to President Bush requesting direct federal assistance. Meanwhile, the Illinois National Guard has been activated to assist with flood fighting efforts along the mighty Mississippi.

According to the Illinois Governor's office, within the next few days, flood waters could top the all time highest level set in 1993. The counties included are Adams, Calhoun, Hancock, Henderson, Mercer, Pike and Rock Island. The state disaster declaration could make available a wide variety of state resources that could help affected communities respond and recover from the flooding. SPRINGFIELD – Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich today directed the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) to continue efforts to assist emergency management officials in Mercer and Henderson counties after levees at Keithsburg and Carman broke this morning. “My heart goes out to everyone in this area who was forced from their homes by these levee breaks,” said Gov. Blagojevich. “I’ve directed the Illinois Emergency Management Agency to work closely with local officials to ensure they get any assistance they need to help these people through this most difficult time.”

________________

This is an older article issued yesterday. A number of counties have been added since that time as the flood waters move south along the Mississippi River at record flood levels.

[nChrist]

Brothers and Sisters,

I would ask all of you to join me in prayer for the victims of these weather disasters. There is more to come. Recent forecasts indicate more rough weather for large sections of the country. The recent trends involve very large storm fronts that stretch for hundreds of miles. Just about everyone should have already noticed weather patterns that are unusual for many parts of the country. I'm a life-long resident of Oklahoma, so we're used to rough weather nearly every year about this time. It appears that much of what we usually get is hitting considerably North this year. There are really too many examples to mention, but many areas of the country that rarely ever have tornadoes are having them now. In case you're wondering - I don't think this has anything at all to do with Al Gore's fantasy money-making scheme of global warming. GOD is in control of Nature - NOT man and certainly not Al Gore. Bible Prophecy clearly indicates there will be patterns of disasters of all kinds as the Tribulation Period is ushered in. I, for one, believe that GOD'S Appointed Time is near.

[Soldier4Christ]

Yes, there are some areas getting hit pretty hard this year that hasn't seen this sort of thing for many, many years. Rainfall amount and flooding have broken records in many parts of the north so it is worse than what could be considered normal. Even so it is reminiscent of weather patterns that have caused this sort of damage in the past. It was at a time in which the winters were much colder.