Steeple Falls As Tornadoes Hit Lousiana, Arkansas (The Associated Press; Oct 30)

SHREVEPORT, Louisiana: One man is dead and a landmark church steeple toppled onto a car in Louisiana after a line of thunderstorms spawned several tornadoes there and in neighboring Arkansas.

Authorities said an unnamed 20-year-old driver died when his car hit a tree felled by the storms Thursday near Shreveport.

At least three tornadoes touched down in northwest Louisiana.

The storms blew the signature steeple off a church in downtown Shreveport. The falling tower hit a car and the 57-year-old driver, Michael Williams, had to be pulled out by rescuers. He suffered broken bones.

The storms brought heavy rain and at least two tornadoes in Arkansas, but there were no reports of injuries in that state. Roads were flooded in parts of southwest Arkansas.

Update: Man Injured By Steeple Local Artist (The Shreveport Times; Oct 29)

The driver pried from a car crushed by the falling steeple of First United Methodist Church in downtown Shreveport today is Michael Williams, local artist and husband of advertising executive Judy O. Williams of Williams Public Relations. He suffered moderate injuries that are not life-threatening, police say.

Williams, 57 and of the 800 block of Oneonta, suffered numerous broken bones but overall is “one very lucky guy,” Shreveport police spokesman Sgt. Jim Taliaferro said. [NOTE: If you have any spare luck like this, please keep it to yourself! For some reason, I prefer the luck of the 200,000+ Shreveport residents who did NOT have a steeple fall on top of them.]

The remnants of the steeple, which was erected in late 2000 after an Easter tornado damaged its predecessor, still blocked Common Street as darkness fell….

So, it was actually the second time in just the last decade that Zeus has sent a warning to this particular church, eh? Certainly the congregation will heed this one lest a third come in the form of total destruction – right?

Artist Hurt By Felled Steeple Recovering From Surgery (John Andrew Prime/The Shreveport Times; Oct 31)

Local graphic artist Michael Williams continues to mend after surviving having a massive church steeple crush his brand-new Lexus as he was stopped at a red light on Common Street near First United Methodist Church in Shreveport on Thursday afternoon.

He underwent surgery Friday at LSU Hospital in Shreveport for a broken and dislocated wrist and has pain blocks in both hands, said his wife, local advertising executive Judy Williams.

The injuries occurred when the steeple of First United Methodist Church landed square on his vehicle when a tornado ripped through the downtown area in the middle of a powerful storm.

“I think he is still running on adrenalin,” Judy Williams said of her husband after an exhausted day and night spent at his side after she rushed back to Shreveport from New Orleans.

“He’s in a body brace for his back, and it may be three to four months that he’ll have to wear that. He’s doing as well as can be expected. He’s still stable, still very lucid, which just amazes me.”…

After being trapped in the car almost an hour, Williams was freed by Shreveport Fire Department emergency personnel and rushed to LSU Hospital….

The steeple, meanwhile, has been removed from Common Street and moved in pieces to a parking lot. It, and Williams’ miraculous near-brush with death, will be a prominent part of the Rev. Pat Day’s sermon Sunday at First United Methodist.

“It’s a miracle, it truly is,” Judy Williams said….

A miracle? Really? Hmmmmm….

*Wondering if pastors and others would put such a positive spin on things if a tornado hit an abortion clinic that rented out space in its basement to a local Wiccan group*

(Greg Pearson/The Shreveport Times/The Associated Press; Oct 29)

For many other examples of Zeus’s warnings to Christians, see the entry I posted on July 18 as well as the related links.

(Or are Christians and their churches merely the random victims of natural events unfolding in a gOdless universe just like the rest of us? Well, yes, I suppose that makes the most sense – but I have yet to encounter a single Christian willing to admit as much. Apparently they all prefer to believe in and worship a gOd and a Jesus who are unable or unwilling to protect them from nature. It’s like continuing to bow down and pay protection money to the Mafia even after the Mafia fails to protect you, isn’t it? Or am I missing something?)