Before I get started rounding up the news from around the world, I just had to share this moving story from a family right here in the United States staying in a Red Cross shelter after a tornado destroyed their home…

Gilda Brisbon and her family know what it’s like to be homeless. But when they moved into their home in Raleigh, North Carolina three years ago, they thought that those days were behind them. That all changed on Saturday when their home was destroyed by a tornado and they lost everything but the clothes on their backs.

“My daughter Brittany was home alone when it hit,” said Brisbon. “I had heard the warning sirens and was hurrying to get home. I looked at my watch and it was 3:31 P.M. when I saw the black funnel cloud coming right at me.” She took refuge in a nearby friend’s house with her grandson Anthony, struggling to keep the door closed against the storm.

At their home, daughter Brittany saw the lights flicker on and off, felt the house shake and heard the sounds of the storm. She took refuge in the laundry room, miraculously suffering only minor cuts and bruises. The tornado demolished all of the Brisbon home but the kitchen and laundry room.

“It rained very hard for about five or ten minutes, and then everything got quiet,” she said. “I ran from the house to find my mother, and had to climb over many trees that were knocked down. The houses on either side of ours were untouched, but ours was destroyed.”

Read the rest of the story.

Tornadoes are frightening things. I lived through a lot of them in the Midwest, and I can tell you that the scariest part is not knowing whether everything you have could be swept away in an instant. It really hits home to hear from families who have lost everything. Here’s the link if you want to donate to help with relief efforts.