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Saturday, June 07, 2008

Tornado?!?!

Jason sent this picture to me on my cell phone. Supposedly it was taken last night in Murray, a small town about a minute or so outside of Bluffton. Neither of us recognize the building in the background, though, so feel free to correct me if you know where this was taken. LOL!! Anyway...CRAZY!!!

Someone took this picture in Uniondale (another small town about 10 min north of us) last night!!

Last night we had a storm coming in. I was watching it on the news and on the radar on my laptop. Then my phone rang and it was Jason and he said "Get over to Sue's as fast as you can!!" (Sue is our neighbor and she always tells me to come to her basement if I need to). I didn't ask any questions, I grabbed Mackinley, my phone, and my shoes (sorry, Dane! haha) and started walking across the street. I made it to the street and the wind literally tripled in speed. So I started running. Imagine a 9 month pregnant woman running in her flipflops with a onesie-clad toddler on her hip. I'm sure it was a pretty sight! I ran in through the door Sue told me to use and called out...no one answered. So I started opening doors looking for a basement. Every door I opened all I saw was pitch black. I started to get a little concerned because I could hear the wind trying to rip through the walls. At that moment our other neighbor, Lisa, came in the back door with her two grandsons. I was SO happy to see her! She showed me which door was the basement and I was trying to find a light switch. She said "the lights are off" and I said "Yeah, what about this switch?" And she said "No...the power is off!" LOL sometimes I'm so blonde. So I grab the handrail and start to go step by step down into the black abyss where we could literally see nothing. Then...once I'm down the stairs, it dawns on me to use my phone as a flashlight. Brilliant move by the pregnant one toting a toddler down pitch black steps she's never been on before...think of the phone once I'm on solid ground.

We were without power until about 1:00 a.m. I don't know why but I couldn't put Mackinley in his own bed, I wanted him with me. So I brought his books and a candle to our bed and he fell asleep reading. The whole evening was exciting for him, once the storm was over. He was very scared during the storm but he LOVED being up so late and having his own flashlight and just hanging out in the dark with Momma.


We were so lucky. We did not have any permanent damage. Our patio furniture was blown around the backyard and one of our chairs was in a tree. Our awesome neighbors had it cleaned up so quickly I never even saw it all, much less get a picture. But this is the neighbors fence...pretty much demolished and I think the dent in this side has our Little Tikes slide to blame! Oops...that made me feel bad!! A lot of houses in town have trees through their roofs and some roofs even blew off. Windows downtown blew out and there was glass all over Market Street. Huge trees were uprooted and roads were blocked. Today all you can hear outside is chainsaws while people try to clear the mess. We are so blessed and fortunate to not have had one limb or tree fall in our yard or on our house. And our neighbors are awesome. They took me in like family and without Sue's basement, Mackinley and I would have been absolutely terrified.

12 comments:

Char said...

The stuff stories are made of. Glad you are safe. It does sound scary!

grammy said...

Oh sooo thankful that everyone is safe and not too much damage at your house.

How did your old house (I believe it was Elm St.) survive?

Like mother, like son....thinking again about how much you enjoyed watching Johnny Carson with me until 1 AM!!! You were about the age of Macky!!! Ha!

I know how scared you must have been last nite..and bless your heart...pregnant and running with Macky into a dark hole for protection.

When you see your neighbors..tell them Grammy said a big THANK YOU for caring and sharing a basement during a storm!!!

grammy said...

Look at Macky's little hand just barely touching your body. He looks so secure and protected!!!

What a sweet picture!!!

The Kittelson's Krazy Korner said...

So Glad that you both had a safe place to go during the storm! Thank God for Awesome neighbors!

Keri said...

Grammy-

We didn't drive by the old house on Elm Drive to see...but I did look down that street because I wondered the same thing and Elm Drive didn't look like it had the trees/limbs/etc down that our street has.

Lone Butterfly said...

That's so scary! I'll be praying for your neighbors, and for you - so close to having your newest little one!

I would have gone into labor right in the middle, knowing me.

Anonymous said...

I am so glad you are all okay. I don't blame you for not wanting to put Mackie in his own bed. I know Jason was terrified for you too. Tornados are so dang scary...I'll take our hurricanes any day. At least I know they are coming!!

Many years ago, think I was about 16 or 17, numerous tornados went thru Hillsdale county. If I remember correctly one went thru Aunt Rena's front yard and one went thru the backyard. There used to be twice as many trees across the front of their house but the tornado took some of them. Their good friends, just up the road, lost their entire house. I'll leave the rest to Aunt Rena who I'm sure remembers it all much better than I do.

I'm just so glad you are alright.

Anonymous said...

WOW! That must have been scary and crazy! I dont like storms myself. I freak out. Glad you and MJ and baby were safe with the help of your good neighbors. HUGS!

Keetha Broyles said...

What a story!!!! Glad you made it safely to the basement in the dark carrying BOTH our grandchildren!!!! :-)

Anonymous said...

Cousin Pam was right. I wasn't alive then but I did see pictures of Uncle Frank and Grandpa Baker out with the huge up-rooted maple trees. I think the neigbhors that lost their house were Sue and Jack.

Anonymous said...

1. i'm so glad you were safe friday night. it was definitely a scary night!

2. "sorry dane". ROFL.

3. "oops... that made me feel bad!!" lol. 'nuff said.

Chrissy said...

Glad to hear you are all safe! What a scary experience.