Georgia Storm Damaged Homes and Businesses in Phenix City and Columbus

Heavy storms have knocked down trees and damaged several homes in eastern Alabama and western Georgia.

The National Weather Service received several reports of possible tornadoes and funnel clouds late Sunday and early Monday, but no touchdowns had yet been reported.

Emergency officials in Columbus told the Ledger-Enquirer that two people were trapped, but uninjured, after a tree fell onto the building late Sunday. Trees and power lines across the area were knocked down.

Tornado watches and warnings were issued for much of Mississippi, Alabama and northern Georgia as the line of severe storms brought high winds, hail and heavy rains.

Terrible Weather This Weekend.

This week we were having some terrible weather. It started to rain on Thursday's evening and throughout the whole night and all Day Friday.It was heavy ,windy and a lot of thunders and lightning.

Homes, churches and other buildings in Salem, Ala., were damaged or destroyed Saturday morning after a tornado packing winds up to 130 mph ripped through the area.

The National Weather Service in Birmingham, Ala., reported the tornado touched down south of U.S. 280/431 near Salem at 9:26 a.m. EST. It moved northeast and crossed the highway, cutting a swath about 500 yards wide for 2.6 miles before lifting off four minutes later.

The tornado uprooted or snapped hundreds of trees along its path. A semitrailer overturned along U.S. 280/431. One school, two churches and at least 17 homes were heavily damaged, but no serious injuries or deaths were reported, the National Weather Service said.

The storm was an F2 tornado, which means it had winds of 125-130 mph. The tornado was part of a severe storm that flooded homes in south Phenix City and Columbus and dumped at least 2.7 inches of rain.

And we woke up this morning with 2 inches of snow. It was terrible and too dangerous to drive. We went to church but we have to cancel our trip to Atlanta as we expected more snow to come and it was not advisable to drive anywhere.

We played a little with the beautiful snow, making snowman and throwing snowballs. It has been almost 10 years since we last have snow in the valley.

Georgia Power reports about 1,000 customers were without power late Sunday afternoon in the Ellerslie area. A caller to News Leader 9 reported an outage in the area of Matthews Elementary School. In addition, Georgia Power estimates 700 customers lost service in Pine Mountain.

Muscogee County schools announced around 5:30 p.m. there will be no school Monday, including no evening high school. Spokesperson Valerie Fuller says any closings and delays will be passed to parents and employees through the Connect-ED telephone messaging service.

Flint River Academy in Woodbury was the first school to cancel Monday classes. The Monday night open house is canceled as well, Headmaster Marlowe Hinson said. Taylor County, Chattahoochee County and Marion County schools also were called off. (Check our separate stories on closings and "open for business" for a complete list.)

It was snowy enough to shut down the Columbus Public Library for the day, as well as call off several church services. The storm was extra dangerous because of "thundersnow," which was reported around 1:15 p.m. by a caller in northern Marion County. Lightning can be very hard to spot when snow obscures the clouds.

Alabama state troopers advised against traveling unless it's absolutely necessary. One WTVM staff member reported seeing three crashes in the Buena Vista Road and Schatulga Road areas. And Columbus resident Lowanna Richardson says even a small incline in the Belvedere Park neighborhood was enough for some cars to become stuck.

But some Columbus store owners told us they remain open, and encouraged people to go outside and shop.

Meteorologist Derek Kinkade says the snow is not likely to be strong enough to knock down trees and power lines. But he adds some overnight icing of roads and bridges is possible.

The storm had an impact far beyond Columbus. A Georgia Power spokesman told News Leader 9 about 42,000 customers lost service statewide, in an area stretching from Columbus to Atlanta to Athens. The spokesman explained strong winds were to blame.

A trip up Oak Mountain,Birmingham ,Alabama

Tuesday, We did not have a lot of work to do .So we decided to visit Oak Mountain to look at he Big Waterfall.(What we heard) Oak Mountain is a State Park about 2 miles from the Exit 246,Highway 119, just beside I 65.

The fee is $2.00 per person. This is a very big state park, with a few lakes,where you and fish and paddle boat. A camping site where you can camp or park your RV.
There are quite a few hiking trails and a tree cabin trail.Also A wildlife park.You also can watch the birds.

We try to look for the waterfall, and follow the narrow road up the mountain, about 4 miles. We went to the top, and there is such a beautiful view looking down at the city. The air is so fresh. We reach the site which led us to the fall, we have to get down and wall about 0.4 miles.As we walked ,we expected to find a very Hugh Waterfall, but to our disappointment, was a small water fall among all the giant rocks.That site is very peaceful. We met a few visitors, taking pictures of the fall.

But I like this place very much, so quiet and peaceful, and far away from the busy city life.One can really relax here.

Almost 1 pm and we drove downhill, but I will definitely visit this place again and maybe camp here for a few days.Beautiful place.

Lunch at Royal Super Buffet,Gulfport ,Mississippi

Monday, we drove 5 hours to Gulfport,Mississippi to submit plans for a project. We had lunch at the Royal Super Buffet, A very large Chinese Restaurant, located by the Giant Food,Supermarket on Highway 49 North, to Hattiesburg,Mississippi.
The restaurant serves a variety of Chinese,Japanese And Mexican Food on the Buffet line.
Chinese foods ranged from Sesame Chicken,Chicken on a Stick, Mongolian Beef, Broccoli Beef, Honey Chicken , Chicken Wings, Fried and Steamed Fish, Spicy Shrimp,Fried Shrimp etc.

Japanese is variety of Sushi Roll, California roll, and Philadelphia Roll.Some Quissadelia and tacos on the Mexican bar. Also Salad, Soup, Fruits and Dessert Bar. Also soft served Ice cream.

If you want something fresh, pick up your choice of vegetables ,meat and noodles from the Hibachi Bar, and let the chef cook for you, add your garlic and hot chili sauce if you like spicy, like me. Remember to drop a tip on the tip jar.

There is really a lot of food, more than 200 items.And All That You Can Eat for lunch is only $6.99 per person, exclude drinks. Well Worth it.
The food is not bad, just not well presented. Service is not that good, they only came to clear your plates.Total ticket came up to $17.00 plus $2.00 tips

Have a great lunch, did some work at the City Hall, and by 4.30 we drove back to Montgomery , almost 4 hours and later drove back to Birmingham ,Alabama.

Lunch at O'Charlie,Alabaster,Alabama

I spent the weekend at Alabaster, Alabama. This small city has developed so much since the last 10 years. There is a Strip Mall with big businesses like Target,Best Buy,Books A Million and a Super WalMart.Also many great restaurants like Olive Garden, Taco Bell, Buffalo Wings ,O Charlies are found there.
Sunday, we had lunch at O'Charlie.
They were quite busy but we did not wait to long for a table. Nice and Cozy environment ,very clean.
We ordered our drink, coffee for me as usual and water with lemon for my husband.
The waiter was fast to bring us a basket of rolls. They were the best rolls, freshly bake with a sweet glaze on top.
We ordered the combination plate, a choice of two entrees, with soup or salad and one side order for $12.99 .
I had the Fried Country Catfish and Sirloin steak with Pilaf rice and Tomatoes/Tortilla Soup.My Husband had the Baby Back Ribs and Grilled Chicken Breast with Salad and Fully Loaded Bake Potato.
We got our soup and salad . I loved my soup, has a little spicy and tangy taste .I was already full with the soup and rolls.The waiter brought us more rolls.
Waited for about 15 minutes for our main course. The catfish was well breaded with cornmeal and fried to golden brown, the sirloin was medium well . I did enjoyed my lunch,but I did not quite like the rice, just plain boiled Uncle Ben's.
My husband's plate of Baby Back Rib and Grilled Chicken Breast has a fully loaded Bake Potato with lots of butter, and bacon bits, The baby rib was small, but marinated well. We could not finish , so we had leftover to take home.
Our check comes up to $30.00 Plus $3.00 tips.
Food Rating Good, Service Good, Price, Affordable.

To Las Vegas I go !!

My Sister-in-law invited me to join her on a trip to Las Vegas for the week of August 9th to 13th.She was going for a Merchandise Convention at the World Largest Merchandise Mart at Las Vegas Convention Mall. She already booked the rooms at Sahara, and I only had to purchase an air ticket.
I was undecided at first and I had to pay $100 more for my air ticket since I booked lest than 14 days . However I still got a very good deal, travelling on Air Tran, direct from Atlanta to Las Vegas. Only $405 with Taxes and a return ticket.
I departed from Columbus to Atlanta , travelling with Groome Transportation. So I do not have to drive and leave my car at Atlanta Airport ,paying for gas and parking fee. Groome only charged $31 for one way and $58 for two way. And they have 36 rides daily from Columbus to Atlanta Airport. On an airconditioned 12 passengers van. But on that day , they only have 5 passengers to Atlanta.
I left about 2.15pm , arrived about 4pm, checked in and waited for about 2 1/2 hours for my flight. Departed at 6.20 pm Eastern Time and I arrived Las Vegas at about 8.30 pm,Pacific Time.The airport was quite crowded.I had to wait for about an hour for my sister who departed from Montgomery ,Alabama, and transit at Dallas,Texas.
Checked in at The Sahara about 11.30 pm.

Tupelo to Atlanta via I20 East

We did not fill up the gas tank, as the Pump did accept my Husband's Debit Card. Having half a tank of gas left, we decided to drive to Birmingham ,Alabama to get gas.Bright sunshine with cool breeze we strolled along Highway 78 East. This is a new highway, 78 East corner(The Future I 22)There were not much traffic and it cut our trip to Birmingham for about 30 minutes. Not much excitement but saw a few States Troopers on the side of the Highway waiting for Speeders. And we saw a 18 Wheeler flipped on the side, and people carrying away crates of Oranges.
Reached Birmingham and the lite for empty gas was on, and we stopped by to fill up the tank. Not too hungry, we continued our journey to Atlanta via I20 East,passing town like Talladega and Douglasville. Almost to Atlanta, the traffic were heavy.
Reached Atlanta at 4pm, went to Old China Town to meet some friends, Ate some Ribs Noodles and a bowl of Wonton soup. For less than $10.00 we got a big bowl of Noodles and a bowl of more than 25 wontons. Delicious.
Then went to Din How Supermarket to get some Chinese groceries, steamed buns, vegetables and Soy Drinks.Also bought some delicious Roast pork bun, red bean bun and some egg tart. We love the Hong Kong Deli, they have the best buns.
Almost 6 pm we drove to Chamblee, to meet our son(study in Georgia Tech) for Dinner.
He took us to the Vietnamese Cafe. A small little restaurant with a lot of bamboos decoration, and large print of the food served,it is very cozy. They were so busy.
We waited a little while, the waitress served us drinks and took a while to get our order. We ordered some Shrimp Roll, Chicken Sate and my son ordered the Vermicelli bow.Also some Shrimp and Sweet Potatoes fries.Food came fast, Chicken sate is okay. The Shrimp has some big shrimp in it,but the Vermicelli was loaded with Chicken and Shrimp,lettuce and parsley.We loved the Shrimp and Sweet Potatoes fries. The fries were crunchy with a sweet taste. Also, had Bubble Tea.
Our ticket came up to $26.10 plus $5.00 tip.
After dinner, drove another 2 hours back to Columbus,Georgia. It was a long and tired weekend, but enjoyable.

Travel from Georgia to Mississippi

My husband chose a bad day to travel . He wanted to go to Tupelo, Mississippi to get a contract job for a new Japanese Steakhouse Restaurant. We started on a cold and very wet and cloudy. The rain decided to come today, after a few warm days. The sky was very cloudy and I hated to drive on a wet day.
The journey started with a long traffic jams on I185 north for almost 30 minutes. Then we drove past Phenix City and on to Highway 280 and thru Opelika,Alabama and all the small towns of Dadeville, Alex City,and on to Birmingham . And we have to turn around on to Highway 78 East, but we missed some junction and drove on to Interstates 65 North which goes to Huntsville Alabama. Blamed this on the Magellan GPS which gave us some confusing direction. So we argued a little and I decided to follow the old way, look at the big Atlas book we bought. Clearer directions.
Anyhow the GPS told us to make some U-turn and led us out to 78East. Reached Birmingham almost 4pm Eastern time.
Hungry, we decided to stop by a Chinese restaurant. Found the Golden Wok along the Highway.Located on 1421, Forestdale Boulevard, Birmingham, Al this medium size restaurant is decorated with little lanterns and nice oriental deco. It has a buffet table but only served Lunch Buffet from Sunday to Friday.
We decided to order from the Menu, the waitress was very sweet and bought us Hot Tea. We ordered the Singapore Mei Fun- tiny rice noodles cooked with curry flavor with vegetables , beef, shrimp and chicken.Also the Shrimp Vegetables with Black Bean sauce. While waiting the waitress offered us some steamed fish and stir fried cauliflower. We enjoyed our lunch, both dishes cooked well with flavor, not too salty and oily. Our tickets came with 2 fortune cookies and cost $16.00 plus $4.00 tips. And we still have some leftover to go.
Then we began our journey again, as least not raining any more but still cloudy. We started at 4.30 , passing by a lot of small towns. On one town you can see rolls of Bingo Halls and they are all crowded.
Highway 78 East is a very straight highway although hilly. Beautiful Scenery.
Soon at about 6.30pm we arrived at the border of Mississippi. And we stopped by the rest area to take a small break.

After, the break we started again as we have another 30 minutes to drive . And at 7.10 we arrived Tupelo,Mississippi,- The birthplace of the Rock and Roll King,Elvis
Presley. Tired from the almost 6 hours drive we check in at the Sleep Inn, A brand new motel, and they have grand opening specials. Everything was brand new here, the bed , the comforters and pillows.Took a hot bath, and ready to lie down for a short rest.