It was 2007, I was in Alabama . Both of my boys and my granddaughter were with me at my house. My Mother and I lived very close to each other. When a tornado was coming, if we had time we would go to my aunt's house. She had a basement , we didn't. The storm started in the middle of the night. We heard the sirens going off, but it was the rain , thunder and lightning that actually woke me. I got everybody awake, we had no time to get to my aunt's she was 12 miles away. My granddaughter wasn't even 2 years old, I also had an Akita. I told everyone we were going to my Mother's , she was alone with her 2 ankle biters . Since her house was built differently than mine, it was actually safer. There was a long hallway we could get into, with no windows. I had the baby wrapped up in a blanket, I was carrying her. All the electric went off , so we couldn't see barely anything. When I walked down my front porch steps, I stepped off into about 3 feet of water. Everything was flooded , my house sat down farther than my mother's. Her's was on a hill . The rain was literally coming down in sheets, the wind was blowing so hard it was hard to remain on your feet . I was still in 3 ft. of water with my granddaughter in my arms . My youngest son followed me down the stairs , then his girlfriend . The baby could hardly breath , the wind blew the blanket off of her. She was being pelted in the face by rain and wind. Her dad took her , he made it to my mother's house first. I went back trying to get the dog out, she wouldn't come . Akita's are big dogs. I couldn't pick her up . My oldest son said he wasn't coming with us . I kept begging him to come, no use. I left and made it to my mom's. The first thing my youngest son asked was , where is the dog? I told him she wouldn't come and I couldn't carry her. He already knew his brother wasn't coming. He promptly went back out in the storm , The only light was from the lightning striking , it was hitting the ground across the street . My youngest son knew he couldn't make his brother leave. My oldest was about 6ft.3. maybe 240 pounds of muscle. If he said no, that was it . At this point the trees were bent almost in half . He was going back for the dog . Before I could stop her , his girlfriend went after him. She was from Pennsylvania , she had no idea what a tornado could do. My mom and I had the baby. We were trying to calm her down , and get her wet clothes off. The noise from the storm was so loud we had to yell at each other to be heard. Maybe 5 minutes later my youngest son walked in the door carrying the dog , Then his girlfriend came in. The worst part of the storm lasted about 15 minutes, but it seemed like a much longer time. It continued to rain for awhile after the wind and lightning passed . All of this happened between 2 and 3 in the morning . Everyone was alright , It didn't take too long for the electric to come back on. The girl scared me so bad going back out into the storm, I took her on a little tour the next day. The tornado didn't touch down at our houses , about 2 miles down the road it did. I wanted to scare the hell out of her, to show her what, but by the grace of God could have happened to us. When she saw the destruction it caused , houses looked like they exploded, trees ripped from the ground, cars and trucks mangled and flipped over , tree trunks that looked like they were in a pencil sharpener. Let's not forget the flooding. She wanted to go back up north. The storm was on the weather channel, her parents were calling , telling her to come home. And so she did , a month later she talked my youngest son into quitting his job to go back home. I don't blame them . I always say I don't hate , that's not quit true. I HATE TORNADOS. May God be with you

I was in Central that day. That day, central Vietnam was hit by 13 consecutive tropical storms, causing the worst floods and landslides in 100 years. Many homes have been destroyed, crops have been damaged, and vulnerable populations have been left empty-handed. On November 10 and 11, I visited flood-affected communes in Ha Tinh and Quang Binh provinces, and I witnessed first-hand the devastating effects of natural disasters on 3 families. Each family carries a heartbreaking story of loss and resilience.

dịch:

Hôm đó tôi ở Miền Trung. Hôm đó, miền Trung Việt Nam đã phải hứng chịu 13 cơn bão nhiệt đới liên tiếp, gây ra tình trận lũ lụt và sạt lở đất tồi tệ nhất trong 100 năm trở lại đây. Nhiều căn nhà đã bị tàn phá, hoa màu bị hư hại, và những người dân vốn là đối tượng dễ bị tổn thương thì lâm vào cảnh tay trắng. Trong ngày 10 và 11 tháng 11, tôi đã tới thăm những xã bị ảnh hưởng bởi lũ lụt tại tỉnh Hà Tĩnh và Quảng Bình, và tôi đã tận mắt chứng kiến sức tàn phá kinh hoàng của thiên tai đối với 3 gia đình. Mỗi gia đình lại mang trong mình một câu chuyện đau lòng về những mất mát và sự kiên cường.