I guess y’all heard about the tornados wrecking parts of the South. What y’all didn’t hear was that they came within a nat’s ass of hitting my house. I got lucky, only a few shingles gone and a few limbs down in the yard, but lots of my neighbors weren’t so fortunate. I went to school with one of the people who got killed, the elderly woman who just died lived a few miles down the road and dozens of people within rock throwing distance of my yard are now homeless.
The Governor toured yesterday and gave a speech our local church, plus the President was supposed to come today. Speeches are all well and fine but what we need are more weather sirens; the nearest one to my house is in Hillsboro, 20 miles away, and there’s no way I could have heard it. My power went out before the storm hit, so there was no way for me to have any warning; the family storm shelter is at the home place and all my sisters plus their families were in it but I had to ride out the tornado in my living room. By the time I heard that freight train sound it was too late to go anywhere.
The twister made a half circle around my place leaving a trail of wreckage in its wake. All I have to do is open my door to hear the chainsaws going, clearing trees off of my neighbors’ homes. Donna and I went out that morning and were both shocked by all the destruction of the houses that we grew up around. What hit me most were the pets. You would expect people to be wandering around in shock but the poor dogs were standing in yards and pastures looking at what used to be their homes or hunting for their owners who had too much on their minds to wonder were Fido and Bowser were.
I didn’t have power for a long time and the cable (which means both the TV and the internet) are still going in and out so I had to come to work to post. All my loved ones are OK, we’re really proud of Donna’s son the fireman who worked all night and most of the day helping the survivors dig out, and our prayers go out to everyone who was hit by the first tornado of the year.
Go click on the Fatal Winds tab for a slide show of some of the damage.
9 comments:
i was going to call you and coudlnt find your damn phone number..i saw that it hit moulton and freaked the fuck out of me..so glad to hear you and your family made it ok...sorry about all the destruction and deaths..how awful and how sad...the weather is just fucking weird lately...tornados where you don't normally get them or at a time of the year when you don't get them...love and hugss to you sweety..
i just looked at the pictures ..my goddess..that's scary...so glad your ok...
Scary! Glad to hear that you are okay - sounds like it was a close call. I saw the news reports on TV and could hardly believe the devastation - homes made into a pile of rubble in a matter of seconds. You're right - 20 miles is too far away for a siren to do much good.
you need to attend some city meetings and get your company to work with them so you can get a better siren system up and running...you can do it..
Glad you're ok, JB.
I'm not even sure what to say. You are a brave woman. I'm not sure how I'd handle such a situation (considering I'm a city boy).
Good thing you're still here to blog about it.
I did think of you when we heard about the tornado's...said a little prayer too.
I grew up in an area that was called 'Tornado Ally' I don't know how many I lived through or how many days I spent helping clean up. One year we lost a whole community of about 1000...not one stick of anything left standing.
I'm so very happy that you and yours are o.k.
I'm so glad to hear you're okay. It must have been scary to sit through it. I haven't thought about what room would be best in my new place if a tornado came around. You made me start thinking.
So glad you are OK Buggsy; we heard about it here but I didn't know it was near to you! To happen in the middle of the night .. that's bad. I don't get why you don't have underground homes etc. - Cost too much I suppose.
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