My thoughts and prayers go out to the people in the Midwest that are affected by the tornadoes. Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio.

Reelfoot Lake in Tn also got hit hard. There are many hunting/fishing lodges and duck camps in the area, and it is duck season.

I can't imagine a tornado being on the ground for 200+ miles.......

I saw some footage, and it was brutal. Real bad.

Feeling for those that got hit. We were spared the worst of it. Yesterday, we still had 50 mph gusts. We will have a lot of cleanup along the fences and trails, but I only risked clearing our 1/4 mile+ driveway yesterday. December tornados, especially of this ferocity, are not common in December; at least they did not used to be.

Dang nasty set of storms.

My family lived very close to the path of the huge Xenia, Ohio tornado in 1974. Xenia was practically unrecognizable afterward. Thoughts are with the folks affected, even if you didn't lose your home or a loved one it's tough to deal with friends who did.

The Xenia tornado went just south of my childhood home. I could hear it, feel it, and watched it go by from the tall tree in our yard. Gill Whitney was on the Chanel 7 with the new radar showing my parents the storm when my mom realized I was still outside watching the storm go by. Those images, experienced power and sounds will forever remain with me. The clouds crashing into each other, the green tint from baseball sized hail within, the lightning, the rain shaft, the cold air falling all around, the smell of ozone hung in the air from all the lightning. It was a scene out of one's imagination, only it was real. After the storm passed, the news reporters made it to the damaged area, seeing the real power I had witnessed scared me way more than watching the storm go by. Mother nature wins. That storm set the recorded wind speed record for decades. I can still see it in my mind. Every storm causes me to stop for a minute and pray for those impacted. This storm is no different. I prayed with a large dose of humility when I heard about this storm.

Nature is full of extreme power and has been since its formation. Hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, volcanos and tidal waves are all powerful events not to be trifled with. Prayers for the affected and hope for a swift recovery.

A tragic reminder that we are not such big fish. Much more powerful forces are at work. Dust in the wind...