Tornado

I've been MIA lately. I was going to do a catch all post, but this deserves one all by itself. The Tornado that swept through Alabama is no secret. It caused complete devastation in many areas. Tuscaloosa has gotten a lot of national news, but there are so many others who have lost everything. I can tell you my experience with it, and stories I have heard locally. It's absolutely unbelievable!

It was 5:30 AM. My phone started ringing off the hook. Groggily, I answered with Wayne (who was on his way to work) telling me to get the boys, get in the hallway and throw a mattress over us. There were 100 MPH winds with tornadoes at Tannehill State Park (10 minutes from our house), and it was coming our way. I have never been so scared. Here I was alone with two sleeping babies. I got us in the hallway, under a mattress (this has been routine lately, but this was the first time Wayne wanted us there so I knew I needed to move quickly.) and we waited. Almost immediately after we got in the hall, we lost power. It was so incredibly dark, and all I could hear was this terrible storm. Wayne stayed on the phone with me and let me know when we were safe. It happened quickly, and we were able to head out of the hallway. Thankfully we had no damage (we had more damage a few weeks ago when we found our pool in a tree!!!), but we kept hearing that the worse was yet to come.

I was suppose to meet up with a friend of mine that day, so I headed on hoping she would have power. She didn't, but I did see a couple of homes destroyed by trees on my way. Ours could have easily been one of them. A tree came down opposite way of our house in the empty lot next to us. I then headed to Wayne's grandmothers who I knew had power. About this time I hear our local weather man saying the tornado coming that afternoon to us was the worst he had ever seen. I knew then that I better get back home to our brick house.

Wayne was able to make it home before it got too bad. On his way home, the tornado was about to hit Tuscaloosa, and it was 1/2 mile wide! I was in complete shock! I didn't even know they could get that big. Next thing we know it's a mile wide and heading this way! We hunkered in the hallway and prayed. We were fully prepared to throw ourselves on our babies.

We quickly realized we would feel a bad storm here, but the tornado would miss us. I wish I could say the same thing for our neighbors. We have church members who have lost everything. Our church has had disaster relief crews going out non stop. Wayne and I have helped when we could, but we have been in the hospital with Grant (more on that later). I think we will have plenty more opportunities to help a lot more. Pleasant Grove will take a very long time to rebuild, much like Tuscaloosa.

Our church has been gathering donations, and I know specific families in need. If you would like to help, I can help direct you to people and places that would appreciate it. For my family and friends who have already helped, thank you so much.

Now, grab a tissue and check out the devastation in our great state..