Tornado

Tornado 2020

We knew from listening to the radio that there was a possibility of a tornado happening and so we spent the entire week preparing. We had only lived in the south for 7 months at this point and knew they happened and so being 'newbies' we took things very seriously. We kept wondering if we were being overly anxious about it though because NO ONE seemed to be nervous, worried or even talking about the possibility of a tornado.  We got food storage put together, emergency supplies and a plan put in place.  

Friday night we all went to bed knowing a big storm was headed our way. Starting at about 2 a.m. our emergency radio kept going off with its loud alarm, Dale stayed awake and started watching the radar and news. I was able to go back to sleep since I had been up with the baby a few times already. Just before 5 a.m. Dale nudged me awake and told me the tornado sirens had started going off near our house. I immediately was awake and running. We both RAN upstairs, I told Dale to grab Will and I ran to Addison's bedroom. It was the scariest thing because our entire house was shaking, the windows were rattling and it sounded like a freight train was inside our house. It was so loud and I thought for sure the roof was going to be torn away right above our heads. The power went out and it's amazing how dark it can get. We both grabbed the kids and met at the top of the stairs, the air felt like it was literally being sucked away from us and it made our ears pop. We ran downstairs and Dale put the kids into the bathtub while I went and grabbed Jameson. From the time Dale woke me up to when we were all together in the bathroom was probably less than 90 seconds. We were high on adrenaline! Then we all hunkered down on the floor of the bathroom and just waited. It was the worst feeling I have ever felt. I was so nervous our house was being destroyed and we were going to lose everything. We said a prayer and everyone was extremely calm. The kids didn't seem nervous and it almost felt like an adventure. We stayed in the bathroom for about 20 min and then could tell it was over. Dale ventured out to grab more flashlights and see if he could see the damage.  We were able to leave the bathroom and we all climbed into our big bed together. Dale, Addison and Jameson fell asleep, but after about 30 min Will and I went into the living room. It was just beginning to get light outside and so we were able to peek out the windows to survey the damage. 

I can't even believe that we had an actual F2 tornado go through our backyard! We were so lucky because our house was undamaged besides shutters. Others were not so lucky. Our backyard was a mess and our neighborhood had a lot of damage. Thankfully no lives were taken in this tornado but so much damage happened, it was really sad to witness. 

 

At the entrance to our neighborhood the poles were bent in half!

 

Clean up begins! It took us and our neighborhood a few weeks to clean up and get rid of debris etc. And it took months to rebuild fences, roofs, sheds, playsets etc. 

 

Neighborhood and surrounding area

We lost power for about 36 hours and were shocked they were able to fix things as fast as they did! But we did enjoy game night in the dark. Our kids were so good through it all and it ended up being a positive experience. We now are even more prepared if another tornado or any other emergency should happen!