Newton: A Christmas miracle

By Staff
Dec. 22, 2002
Many of our neighbors just a few miles to the west in Newton and some of our neighbors in southeastern Lauderdale County are fortunate to be alive today. An officially-declared class F-2 tornado hit Newton just after 1 p.m. on Thursday, with winds clocked as high as 157 mph cutting a destructive swath through downtown and then tearing into many businesses along Highway 80. High winds also hit the Long Creek area in Lauderdale County, causing extensive damage.
Property damage and personal injury are terrible results of a sudden and violent storm. Officials say at least 50 people were injured two critically and we wish all of them a speedy recovery.
And yet, today, just three days before Christmas and after viewing the destruction up close, we can say with certainty it is nothing short of a miracle that no lives were lost as the winds swept through the town of Newton and Lauderdale County.
In a crowded shopping center such as Newton's Wal-Mart, where people had no thought other than filling a Christmas wish list, it clearly could have been much worse.
Here at the Christmas season, as Christians reconnect with the miracle of the Savior's birth, we marvel at the miracle of survival. Even a little dog named Princess survived the vicious winds that destroyed the mobile home in which she lives.
For as one house is destroyed and another remains undamaged, as one tree falls and an adjacent one still stands, and as the people who suffered this catastrophic impact of roaring winds start the process of recovery, we know the hand of God is still at work.