Saturday, February 16, 2013

Tornado Damage Causes Cancellation of PBQ Meeting

Disaster relief lunch break. Thank you to all our volunteers and those who've fixed meals!
The February 10 tornado caused horrific damage to Hattiesburg, specifically the area between Arlington Loop and Hardy along S 37th Avenue, S 34th Avenue, Donwood, and Southampton Rd.  University Baptist Church (on Arlington Loop) was not damaged and is being used as a staging area for relief efforts. There are pick-up trucks, 18-wheelers, trailers, and other heavy equipment in the parking lot, and the church is feeding work crews in Fellowship Hall, sometimes three meals a day.

Since this is PBQ's meeting place, it has been decided that our February 20th meeting as well as the workshop the following week will be cancelled. Some nearby streets are still blocked, and we don't want to hinder any of this clean-up work that is going on. We have been told that approximately 2000 homes in the area are affected, from some damage to total destruction. We still marvel that there was no loss of life.

Photo by Ryan Moore, Hattiesburg American


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