Sunday, June 08, 2008

Night of the Twisters

Hubster and I, along with the kids, went to a water park resort this weekend. We had a good time, well, as good of a time as you can have when you bring your kids along! By Saturday evening we were all feeling the effects of the weekend 'fun.' While we watching the news, we saw our family members' town on the screen. They had a tornado touch down by them. All that kept being shown, over and over, was the tornado's destruction. The tornado had struck down on one of the major highways and as a result, cars and a large semi were knocked down. That part of the highway is still closed. Roofs were blown off houses, and the poor farmers were hit hard. One horse farm had the roof of its stable blown off. When the owners came back from the area they went to when the tornado hit, they found that even though the roof had blown off, all seven horses were still there and they were fine. They looked as though nothing had just happened. It was amazing! The main problems after the tornado hit, is all of the downed electrical wires as well as possible looting. Aren't people wonderful?

Being so far away was hard. Not knowing if my family was okay was difficult. All I could think of was that I didn't have their phone number with me. When we got home this afternoon, I called them to see if they were okay. I prayed they would answer, because if they didn't, the news would not have been good. The good news is that they answered their phone and were not hit directly. The bad news is they had minor damage to their property, but no power. It isn't expected to return for another 2-3 days. The electric company's trucks are all over, and doing what they can.

My parents were in a horrible tornado in 67', and never did get over the effects. Whenever there was a bad storm and taking cover was advised, my mom would tell us to quickly get in the basement. We always went too slowly for her liking. I think that we never thought we would be touched by a tornado, so we didn't see the point of rushing. My mom did. When she passed away, I took her copy of the newspaper depicting that tornado. She always kept it in her drawer. I never understood that, but I do now.

1 comment:

Kate said...

When I was a little kid we lived in Illinois. I remember camping out in the hallway at night when the tornado sirens would go off. I had no idea just how scary it must have truly been for my mom and dad! We just thought it was kind of cool!