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Tornado in Mapleton Ia. Need Prayers


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Mapleton, Iowa, tornado

Mapleton is where himself grew up, and we've only a few people who are still alive there who we know, one is our Sub-Mom..

We know others there but can't reach them, either.

The town is about 30 miles from Carroll, and the APQS factory.

As far as we can tell, Sub Mom is fine, some damage to her home, enough that she can't stay in it. Quite a lot of older housing was wiped out, and about a third of down town..

I thank our Lord for keeping everyone safe, with advance notice, and many many b asements.. There were only two injuries, a broken leg and a broken arm. No one was killed.

Some of this was news related, some by word of mouth, about 4 times old..

Please pray for the town.. it's only about 12,000- 12,250 large and they are going to suffer a lot getting the place back to order.

we tried all day yesterday to reach two by phone, and the lines are down, only a few hundred have water and power.

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prayers for everyone involved for sure, I heard there would be some dangerous weather in the midwest but hadnt seen anything else on it as I was in flight yesterday coming home from Vermont. We had some really bad lightning earlier in the morning but by the time I was taking off all was well, Thank You Lord!!

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Actually as of 8 pm last night they asked only the clean up help and town residents were allowed in town. On the news last night they showed how much clean-up had been done and it was unbelieveable! The spirit of the residents will keep that town strong!

Janette

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WOW! I never been in a tornado. We don't have them in Hawaii. The only thing we get are huricanes, tsumanis and earthquakes. Must be scary to be in a basement while the tornado passes. I'm glad everyone was safe and unharmed. We will pray for a speedy recovery for the town.

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Prayers for them all. Hubby and I were watching this on the news last night and their sense of community is awesome. They could serve as such a great role model! Not one shelter was opened because anybody that was displaced was put up by a neighbor. The kids were out of school but they were all digging in and helping neighbors clean up. I wish every community in our country were like this one.

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The pictures on the news and in the Des Moines Register were unreal. DesMoinesRegister.com has a lot on their site as well.

We are in "Tornado Alley" in our part of the country. They can wipe out an entire town or just one or two houses, leaving the one next door untouched. As least we do have some warning that a Tornado is coming or that "conditions are right" to breed one. We have learned to "read" the weather and start looking and watching the sky. They only last a few minutes most times, but can sure do a lot of damage in that short amount of time.

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Yes the town is strong, however the consensus is that most who were wiped out will move somewhere else, as it was the poorest part of town. Most won't have money to rebuild, and didn't have insurance. The town doesn't have low cost housing for them to live in. the fellowship is strong in those midwest country towns, and they do help each other. That doesn't include rebuilding for them. The town is really a mess when it comes to figuring out how to rebuild and not lose most of the residents. They are saying now that 60% of the town was wiped out.

Wish we could go help, but with no motorhome any more, no place to stay and not be a problem.

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Three years ago our town was in the same situation as Mapleton. An EF5 destroyed over 1/3 of the town. The students at our high school were going to collect bottled water to send. As they some of them were discussing this, they approached the administration as to how they could help. This morning almost 100 students and staff loaded busses and are heading to Mapleton to help with the clean up. These kids grew up way to fast that summer. They have become compassionate young adults who truly want to pay it forward. They will offer a unique empathy with the residents of Mapleton as they help them move forward.

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Count on our prayers from overseas too - we too know what nature can throw at you. Our community spirit was also strong after the fires we had in February. A bridge that had burned down was rebuilt within 3 weeks, although it is a temporary structure until a new 'proper' bridge can be built. But at least traffic can now flow properly.

I hope most are able to rebuild. Maybe there will be some help from community groups like Habitat for Humanity for those with no insurance.

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Mapleton is just a hop through the hills for us. (About 12 miles) We are 8 miles as a crow flies from the boy scout camp that was hit, in the past.

They still aren't letting us do much for Mapleton but cash donations to Red Cross or Salvation Army.

My heart goes out to those. Mapleton is such a lovely little town. I'm so glad that your family member was safe!

It's amazing that there were so few hurt.

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I have been praying.... I have many friends who live here in Mapleton, MN - so I think "what if??"

Very thankful too - my husband was driving home just only 15 min. ahead of that storm. They saw the storm chasers everywhere and a huge wall cloud behind them. Sure glad they left when they did.

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Glad your hubby was safe from the storm.

Word we got is they are about half way thru clean up. Going slow in some areas due to downed lines, and fire plugs, etc.

Lynne in Ia, please send the word to the groups going to help, that prayers are going up, for them, also.

God Bless All.

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Thanks Rita - I sure was glad they weren't on their bikes too. Makes it much easier to ride through the storms!

Lynne - thanks for posting the link. It is nice to know that people are helping and things are getting and will get better...... hard to have hope for some people who are living in it though I am sure.

It was well over 10 years ago when St. Peter was hit so bad by that F5, only 2 people died, but you can still notice it around town. If you knew the town before that is.

Many 100 year old Oak trees gone, never used to be able to see the chapel steeple up at the college before, now you can see the new one they had to build.

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