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What Stands in the Storm


It is April, and along with the beautiful springtime comes the threat of tornadoes.  

We are approaching the 4th anniversary of the superstorms that hit the South on April 27, 2011.  Writer Kim Cross has given us a permanent record of that day in her new book, What Stands in the Storm.

The book reminded me of the sorrow and pain of that day, and also the joy of knowing how people helped one another in the aftermath of the storms.  She offers information that we did not hear on the news and stories that need to be remembered.

I highly recommend this book to anyone, but especially those who experienced those storms firsthand.

Before, we took the darkening skies as a kind of inconvenience, thought to ourselves how inconvenient it might be when the lights winked out.  After, the funerals lasted for days.  We would never look at the sky the same way again.  ~Rick Bragg

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