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Tornadoes In "Tornado Alley"

Aftermath Of A Tornado Strike

Within the continental United States of America, there is an area which encompasses some of the Central and Mid-Western states which has acquired the name of "Tornado Alley". While this is not the only area of the United States where this phenomenon strikes, percentage-wise, there is no doubt that this area holds the record for the formation of these deadly storm systems. Unlike a hurricane which forms out over warm tropical ocean waters, usually reaches maximum sustained winds of 75-150 miles per hour, and then weakens once it reaches land, tornadoes form over the land, can clock wind speeds of over two hundred miles per hour, and during their short lifetime, can create as much devastation as, or more devastation than, a hurricane which can survive for several days or longer before dissipating. Consider the following reports issued by CNN and Disaster Relief concerning a series of deadly tornadoes which struck the Oklahoma-Kansas area the night of May 4, 1999:

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Tornado Toll 43; Neighborhoods Wiped Out

OKLAHOMA CITY (CNN) -- President Clinton issued federal disaster orders and rescuers searched for more victims in Oklahoma and Kansas on Tuesday, the day after dozens of tornadoes laid waste to entire neighborhoods, killing at least 43 people.

Throughout the region, hundreds of people were injured and thousands of homes and businesses were lost.

Most of the destruction was in Oklahoma, where some communities "simply don't exist," Gov. Frank Keating told CNN. "It looks like a huge battle has taken place."

In the path of dozens of tornadoes, rows and rows of houses were reduced to rubble. Cars were tossed about and crushed. Natural gas spewed from ruptured lines. Power poles were reduced to kindling, and broken, twisted wires littered the ground.

Oklahoma hospitals were overwhelmed with injuries as a result of the "monster" storms that Keating described as the state's "largest tornadoes ever."

The biggest of them formed near Chickasha, 45 miles southwest of Oklahoma City, and cut a path at least a half-mile wide as it moved north and east. Skipping across the flat Oklahoma countryside, it toppled trees, power lines, outbuildings and cars until it ripped into south Oklahoma City.

While many tornadoes are short-lived, this one stayed on the ground for about four hours, the National Weather Service said. Forecasters said it might be categorized at least F-4, the second-strongest tornado classification, with winds of at least 207 mph.

The path of tornado destruction in Oklahoma City was 19 miles long and up to a half-mile wide, said Mayor Kirk Humphreys.

2. Entire neighborhoods were wiped out in south Oklahoma City, with survivors aimlessly wandering through the debris, some disoriented, others refusing to go to shelters, opting to sleep in their cars, reports from the scene said.

An estimated 1,000 homes were blown away in Oklahoma City alone and hundreds more were badly damaged, police said. "In some cases, entire residential neighborhoods were leveled," said Oklahoma City Police Capt. Charles Allen.

* In Moore, a suburb of Oklahoma City, police said 7,500 homes were damaged or destroyed -- half of its 15,000 single- family residences. "It looks like a bomb hit here," said mortician John Ireland. "Houses are just leveled. It looks like a battlefield."

* In nearby Del City, an area two miles long and a mile wide was cordoned off where officials said homes were reduced to their cement slab foundations.

. . .

Tornadoes Devastate Oklahoma

More than a dozen tornadoes roared across Oklahoma and Kansas Monday night, killing at least 41 people and destroying more than 2,000 homes. Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating said the storm system probably was the worst in the history of Oklahoma, which has seen its share of twisters over the years.

Initial reports indicated at least 36 people were dead in Oklahoma and five others were killed in Kansas. However, officials on the scene said they expect the death toll could rise as the sun's first light reaches the area.

At least 1,000 homes reportedly were destroyed in Oklahoma City alone. In Moore, south of the capital, hundreds of homes were damaged or destroyed. Video footage showed vehicles twisted and smashed and spread across highways. Keating called in the National Guard to cordon off a 25-square-mile area of southern Oklahoma City where thousands were without power and witnesses described a scene of bedlam.

"It's just absolutely unprecedented. No one has ever heard of something like this," said Keating. "There are a lot of communities we are getting information from the highway patrol and sheriff's office that have literally been obliterated."

"There was a massive amount of damage," said David Imy of the Storm Prediction Center in nearby Norman, Okla. "There are blocks completely gone."

Imy said at least 12 tornadoes ripped through the area Monday night. Area hospitals reported receiving hundreds of injured shortly after the tornadoes struck.

"We are getting so many injuries we are just tagging them and bringing them in," said Shara Findley, a spokeswoman for Hillcrest Health Center in Oklahoma City.

American Red Cross spokesman Kristen Hall said, "It's just been total devastation in many of the neighborhoods. They have been completely wiped out from the foundation on."

At least one of the tornadoes that struck Oklahoma City reportedly was a mile wide at times. Scientists at the National Severe Storms Lab in nearby Norman, Okla., said at least one of the twisters appeared to have been an F-5 - the strongest possible tornado, which can pack winds higher than 260 mph.

Several tornadoes formed over a five-hour period Monday evening, and at least three warnings were issued as late as 10:30 p.m. Most of the damage appeared to have been done between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. At least 250 people were injured in Oklahoma.

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For any honest person who is reading this series, it should be obvious by now that the world's weather system has truly gone amuck. No country has been left totally untouched by the many droughts, floods, monsoon rains, severe storms, heat waves, hurricanes, typhoons, tropical cyclones and tornadoes which have been loosed on the world by a wrathful God during the past several years.

From the United States of America, to Europe, to Asia, to Africa, to South America, to Australia, everyone has felt His Hand of Judgment in one way or another. The reports I have included in this series, and there are many, many more, prove this point beyond a shadow of a doubt in my mind. Even if certain countries haven't been directly affected by these "natural" calamities, they have been affected indirectly due to the global economy which necessitates international trade with those countries which have been directly affected by these plagues, or by the movement of great masses of people from the affected areas. As a few honest people have been willing to admit, something very strange is going on when a country is repeatedly hit by droughts and floods, sometimes during the very same year.


In like manner, in spite of all their boasts which appear frequently in the mass media, it should also be apparent that the science and medical community do not possess the power, or the knowledge, to hold back the new and powerful pathogens, that is viruses and bacteria, which are resulting in plagues and epidemics of various proportions the world over, such as the AIDS epidemic. Again, I have presented clear evidence from the false prophets, the mass media, themselves. Proud, foolish man is simply not winning the battle as he claims. In fact, in spite of all of the good which modern medicine appears to be doing, as the following startling reports reveal, every single year, a minimum of 44,000 to 98,000 people die in the United States of America, as a result of errors in medical procedures, whether it be due to prescribing the wrong medicine, or something even worse:

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Chat Transcript: Dr. Gordon Schiff On Medical Mistakes

(CNN) -- Dr. Gordon Schiff discussed the medical errors estimated to produce more than 44,000 deaths in the United States each year during a CNN.com chat on December 7, 1999. Dr. Schiff serves as Director of Clinical Quality Research in the Collaborative Research Unit of the Department of Medicine at Cook County Hospital in Chicago.

. . .

DR. STEVE SALVATORE, HOST: Welcome to YOUR HEALTH. I'm Dr. Steve Salvatore.

To err is human, but when it comes to the practice of medicine, it can be deadly. And a new report suggests it often is. In fact, the study shows medical errors are now the eighth-leading cause of death in America. That's ahead of highway accidents, breast cancer, and even AIDS.

If that's not bad enough, experts say the numbers are probably underreported.

So what's wrong with our health care system? And more importantly, what's being done about it?

CNN medical correspondent Eileen O'Connor takes a look.

EILEEN O'CONNOR, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Institute of Medicine cites studies showing between 44,000 and 98,000 people die as a result of mistakes by medical professionals each year in the United States.

DR. DONALD BERWICK, INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE COMMITTEE MEMBER: That's probably an underestimate, for two reasons. One is, there are many kinds of errors that we never learn about, even in retrospective studies, because they're never written down. And second, these studies do not include other areas of care, like home care, nursing homes, and ambulatory care settings.

O'CONNOR: The majority of errors, the report says, are not from recklessness but from basic flaws in the way care is organized, like stocking hospital wards with full-strength drugs that can be toxic unless diluted, making a mistake more likely. Others are the result of simple human error, like a hurriedly written order on a chart that is misinterpreted.

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To add to man's dilemma, in spite of so many deceitful treaties, and false cries of "Peace, peace!", the world has never been so near to the brink of destruction, as it is at this current time. More nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons are possessed by more nations now, than at any other time in the world's history, and the number continues to grow. With good reason the government of the United States of America is concerned about the proliferation of nuclear arms. Not only do these weapons in the possession of other nations threaten her position as the "Queen of the World", but many of those weapons are, or will be, pointed right at her evil, selfish, proud, lustful, and oppressive heart! All it takes is one misunderstanding, one occasion of being pushed beyond the limits, one nervous finger, one misjudged feeling of a sense of superiority and false confidence, one occasion of being pushed back into the corner too far, to set things off; and it is bound to happen sooner or later. Man has his atomic toys, and he is just dying to play with them; and when he finally does, many people will indeed be dying!


To complicate the Endtime scenario even further, in recent years, a new form of militancy and rebellion has come to the fore. With the advent of the computer age, cyber-terrorism has made its appearance, and now threatens us every time we log on to the Internet and check our email, or visit a website. In recent months, the mass media has reported quite a few new viruses and trojans which have been released upon an unsuspecting naive public; and many servers, both government commercial and private alike, have been victimized by these unseen, sick terrorists, who simply find their thrills in defacing a website, or in crashing a personal computer. Of course, there are also serious hackers of foreign nations to deal with as well. With only two weeks to go until we arrive at the new year, and learn the verdict of the Y2K glitch, the expectation is high that many cyber-terrorists, both private, and of foreign governments, will take advantage of the confusion which may result from Y2K, in order to release a wide range of new and destructive viruses and trojans upon the worldwide cyber-community. Consider this recent report released by CNN news:

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FBI, Pentagon Brace For Y2k Hacker Attacks

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The FBI and the Pentagon are planning a special vigil as 1999 comes to a close, fearing both government and private sector computers could come under attack as the calendar changes to 2000.

Terrorists, hostile nations, criminals and recreational hackers could all launch assaults at the same time -- and could use Y2K malfunctions to hide their actions.

"It is not at all unreasonable to expect the people and the groups who engage in those activities every day might focus their activities at the same time around the date change," said Michael Vatis, head the National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC).

Established at FBI headquarters in February 1998, the NIPC is the government's control center for threat assessment, warning, investigation, and response for threats or attacks against critical infrastructure.

Potential targets include computers that handle government agencies, banking transactions, utilities, transportation systems and communications networks.

While the FBI has not identified any specific threats, it is preparing a large-scale response.

24-Hour Command Post Planned

From December 29 through January 5, the FBI will maintain a 24-hour command post at its headquarters and run similar operations at all 56 of its field offices throughout the country.

A Pentagon monitoring station also will be on alert to guard against intrusions.

The intensive government response is, in part, a reflection of a growing trend. Every day there are 80 to 100 hacking attempts on Pentagon computers and still more on other government databases.

This year there have also been a number of virus attacks causing widespread disruption to private businesses.

Computer Crime Caseload Growing

In fact, the FBI computer crime caseload has doubled each of the last two years. In October, the agency reported 800 pending cases.

"They have vulnerabilities even without the Y2K opportunity added on to them," said Richard Power of the Computer Security Institute. "So that's why there is activity about contingency plans."

Companies around the nation are taking the potential threat seriously.

"Y2K and concern about viruses and other cyber crime during this millennium transition is something that is very important to our customers," said Marc Soqol, senior vice president of Computer Associates, one of the largest providers of computer security software.

FBI officials don't want to scare the public, but, they say, high profile events like the millennium change are often a magnet for criminals, even those operating in cyberspace.

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While many hard-hearted pagans and unbelievers of the world will continue to attribute all of these calamities to such things as "El Niño", "La Niña", sun spot activity and other "natural causes", as well as to wars and the evil fruits of wars, we Christians who know the Lord and His Word, know the truth regarding these matters; or at least we should. God is trying to get the world's attention through their suffering, in order to bring repentance to the lives of many. They need to forsake their false religions, their corrupt political and economic practices, their oppression of the poor, their ungodly lifestyles, their violent wars, and their industrial assault on the natural creation.

Undoubtedly, some people will accuse me of painting God as some kind of unloving monster. This includes some Christians who, because they are not familiar with the true Word of God, are of the erroneous opinion that God is only love, and thus He would never allow such tragedies to happen to His children. If you are one who has embraced this view, then may I encourage you to re-read the Scriptures I shared with you earlier in this series, as they speak for themselves. If the children of ancient Israel did not escape the Wrath of God when they displeased and rebelled against the Almighty, for what reason then do some Christians, such as some self-righteous Christians in the United States of America, think that they can escape His Chastisements when they likewise fail to obey His Word? To even think this way is extremely hypocritical.

You must decide for yourself if you wish to believe God's Word as it is recorded in the pages of the Holy Bible, or else continue to cling to your own misconceptions and false ideas, which you may have obtained from organized religion, which incidentally, is currently doing its best to present a politically-correct image to the world, through its serious compromise of Scriptural truth. For more on this topic, please read such articles as "Modern False Prophets And Worldly Ecumenism".

As all of the previous verses and news excerpts clearly indicate, while God is indeed a God of Love, He is also a God of Wrath; and sometimes His Divine Love as our Heavenly Father, must be manifested to us through the righteous exercise of His Wrath upon His wayward children. If you are not yet convinced of this fact, then may I encourage you to read some of my other articles which discuss this very same topic. This includes "Beholding The Evil And The Good", "Are Personal Tragedies Due To Sin?", "Love, Mercy, Chastisement And Forgiveness", etc. For the time being, allow me to share a few additional verses with you which will further prove this point:

"Open rebuke is better than secret love."


"And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons . . . Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed."


In conclusion, whether or not people agree with them, or understand them, as we saw at the beginning of this series, the Lord Himself forewarned us of these things almost two thousand years ago. He wanted us to know about the coming wars which would scourge the world, the incurable plagues and the epidemics, the widespread famines, the devastating earthquakes, the prolonged draughts, the many hurricanes, typhoons and tropical cyclones, the tidal waves, the floods and the tornadoes. God likewise wanted us to know of the rising tide of evil in the world as men oppress men through political, economic, military and religious means in order to make themselves lords over the poor of the world. Jesus referred to these things as the 'Beginning of Sorrows'; only precursors of worse things to come. Not only that, but as I mentioned earlier, He also said that men's hearts would fail them for fear, that is, they would have heart attacks, when the final Endtime events began to occur upon the Earth in earnest:

"Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken."


While many people who do not know God's Word will fear as these Endtime events begin to escalate upon the Earth, as God's children, He tells us not to fear. That is precisely one of the reasons why He has chosen to impart to us this knowledge; because knowledge of the Divine One's Ways and Will removes ignorance and fear. As the Prophet Amos was inspired to write:

"Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets."


Thus, rather than fear, we are to trust in Him completely, knowing that He does indeed love us, and that He will not allow anything to happen to us unless it is in accordance to His Divine Will, and for our own good. Please consider the following verses:

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee."


"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."


"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."


So again, Jesus knew that these things would come upon the Earth, and He wanted us, His children, to know about them, so that we would not fear, but trust in Him; therefore, there should be no doubt that they are ordained of God. El Shaddai, the Almighty God, is indeed allowing these things to happen, because the stench of man's sickness, perversity and evilness has filled His nostrils; and He has risen to shake Himself, and the Earth, once more; and we are only now seeing the beginning of His Divine Chastisements upon a rebellious and anti-God world; the "Beginning of Sorrows". As the Apostle Paul wrote:

"See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire."


Before bringing this series to its conclusion, I feel that there is one more issue which we must discuss. While the Lord has indeed chosen to impart this knowledge to those of us who study and believe His Word, there is a price to pay for imparting this same saving knowledge to others; and this price will become more apparent as time goes on. As I have already made clear, while we Christians understand the true nature, origin and purpose of 'natural disasters' and other calamities which are befalling the people of the world, due to their sins of rebellion and unbelief, most people refuse to accept them. As such, the more we try to tell them the truth, in the hope that they will repent of their sins, and accept God's Saving Grace through Jesus Christ, the more they will hate us for it. This is because they are the evil children of disobedience who walk the broad way, as we see by these verses:

"Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:"


"Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience."


"For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:"


"Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."


As I explain in such articles as "Civil Disobedience And Christian Persecution", the time is coming when some of us may be called to face ridicule, persecution, and possibly even death. Yet in spite of this, the Lord still requires of us that we trust in Him. Consider these verses:

"But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake. And it shall turn to you for a testimony. Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer: For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist. And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. But there shall not an hair of your head perish. In your patience possess ye your souls."


"If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me."


"Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution."


To conclude then, as each Endtime sign is fulfilled, and as gross spiritual darkness fills the world more and more, and as the rebellious children of the world begin to rise up against us more and more, in order to quench the brilliant Light of Truth which we bear, please remain faithful and obedient to the Lord. Let nothing turn your eyes to the right hand or to the left. Let your eyes continue to look right on to Jesus, the Author and the Finisher of your faith. If you do this, surely you will receive a Crown of Life:

"Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil."


"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."


With these thoughts, I will bring this article to a close. It is my hope that you have found it informative, enlightening, and I pray that it has been a blessing in your life as well. If you have an account with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or with any other social network, I would really appreciate if you'd take the time to click or tap on the corresponding link that is found on this page. Thanks so much, and may God bless you abundantly!

For additional information and further study, you may want to refer to the list of reading resources below which were either mentioned in this article, or which contain topics which are related to this article. All of these articles are likewise located on the Bill's Bible Basics web server. To read these articles, simply click or tap on any link you see below.

Abomination of Desolation: Explained!
Greater Works Than These Shall He Do . . . and Satan Too
In the Ages to Come
Jesus Christ's Return: Have We Been Deceived?
Leviathan: An Ancient Dragon of the Sea?
Who is Babylon the Great?
Satan: His Origin, Purpose And Future
Satan: King of Tyrus, King of Empires
The Fruits of Disobedience
The Great Tribulation and the Rapture
Tradition or Truth? Old Wine or New Wine?
When Was Satan Cast Out of Heaven?
Who Hindered the Antichrist?

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