39 Killed by Midwest Tornadoes

A huge outbreak of tornadoes has devastated Midwest states and claimed the lives of 39 people.

Starting on Friday, massive thunderstorms spawned dozens of tornadoes that tore through the country from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes. The twisters turned homes into piles of sticks and businesses into twisted tangles of metal. Schools were decimated and vehicles turned over or picked up and thrown into buildings. About 8,000 premises lost electricity; 2,800 were still without power yesterday.

The National Weather Service currently estimates that there were 127 tornadoes in 11 states. According to eqecat, a catastrophe risk modeling firm, this year’s tornado count to date is 30 percent higher than the average of recent years.

These storms follow another outbreak of severe weather that killed 13 people in the Midwest in late February.

As their belongings and much of their lives lay in ruins around them, many Americans right now are asking, Why did this happen? Tornadoes are caused by natural weather phenomena, but is that the only answer? And if there is a God, and He can control the weather, why do tragedies like this happen? There are answers, and there is hope. To understand the reason behind this seemingly senseless disaster, read “Why Did God Let It Happen?”