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We have a lot to say about Thursday’s tornadoes that caused destruction in parts of LaGrange and Troup County. Too much to type.

So instead, we’re going to try to keep it simple.

With approximately 106 homes in the city limits receiving damage, trees down everywhere and possibly multiple tornado touch downs, it is unbelievable that there were no serious injuries or deaths related to the storm.

We realize there are people waking up this morning in a Red Cross shelter or spending the night with family or friends. They don’t have a roof on their home. Or a bedroom is gone. They are salvaging what they can during daylight hours and working with insurance companies every chance they can to get things back to normal as quickly as possible.

And we understand many people had terrifying experiences, whether it was an 18-wheeler flipping in front of them or getting to a hallway or inside room just seconds before a tornado struck their home.

And we know some sat hours on the interstate, unsure when it would start moving again.

It was truly a tough day for all of us. It was an extremely tough day for some of us — life-changing even.

But with all that said, isn’t it amazing that all of us are still standing to live another day? Mother Nature sent a powerful storm our way, uprooting some of the largest trees, taking down power poles, damaging vehicles, lifting roofs off of homes, and yet somehow, someway all of us are still here to talk about it.

And boy do some of us have a heck of a story to tell.

We thank all of our first responders, utility workers, local officials — there are so many people who gave up countless hours to ensure your lights were back on, your roads were clear, your kids were safe to get home at school. They did it on little sleep.

We know city and county leaders weren’t just standing around barking orders. Many of them were out in the middle of the cleanup, doing their part. That’s true leadership.

We know for some in this community there’s a lot of cleanup left to do — rough days, weeks and months ahead. We pray for everyone in that situation.

And while the damage is terrible, we’re also just feeling thankful. Everyone in Troup County escaped this awful storm alive. There’s a lot upsetting when you drive around parts of our community right now, but that is truly the rainbow after the storm.