Good riddance, April.

The month most-known in Mississippi and the Southeast as “tornado month” really packed a wallop this year. Even as the calendar turned today to May 1, the threat for tornadoes here is still viable, just not as widespread.

It’s been a month of ruined communities and battered lives, culminating on Wednesday with what is being called the deadliest day for tornadoes in the nation’s history.

It easily could have happened here instead of in towns such as Smithville, Tuscaloosa and Anniston. Neighborhoods, towns, leveled. The death toll on Saturday was more than 350 and hopefully will not rise higher. The storms tore a swath from east Mississippi across central Alabama into Georgia and Tennessee.

The South is used to taking a beating by Mother Nature. From June through November, the ever-present chance of hurricanes occupies our minds. April is tornadoes. Spring as a whole brings the threat of floods.

Unlike tornadoes that can sprout in an instant, the Mississippi River’s waters rise in the spring. Snow melt up north and massive rains throughout the central Mississippi River Valley have swollen rivers and tributaries to the Mighty Mississippi.

It’s a bit of a helpless feeling, knowing the river is about to reach levels not seen here in generations. The latest forecast has the river cresting at 53.5 feet — more than 10 feet above flood stage — on May 18. Those levels are expected to pass those of the floods of 1973, and 1937. The great flood of 1927 reached 56.2 feet at Vicksburg. It became the topic of books and song. It’s still considered the worst of the worst.

What was it like in Vicksburg when the floods came in 1927 and ’37? Do you or someone you know have recollections of those two great floods? I want to hear from you. Call 601-636-4545 ext. 174 if you want to tell your story of the great floods.

The South is familiar with natural disasters, but not accustomed to floods of epic proportions or tornadoes the size and scope we saw on Wednesday; the destruction is staggering.

I can only hope tornado season will end with the calendar change. I hope towns devasted by April’s disasters can rebuild their lives and their towns. I hope the predicted flood of 2011 passes with minimal destruction and no deaths.

Most especially, I hope for a quiet May.