Last night was one of the scariest nights I've ever had. About 9:30 pm, tornadoes were predicted to sweep through our area throughout the evening, leaving us glued to the television for details and timelines. One hit a car dealership in Benton (30ish miles south). A police officer left his dash camera on and got video of the actual tornado going across the screen. It was played over and over on the news between updates.
I wasn't too concerned until it started moving toward the downtown area (although, we now know it was not actually on the ground at that time). I hoped it wouldn't hit the building my studio is in...but also knew if it was that close, it would be here in no time. Then it touched down in a neighborhood near the mall and crossed the river going towards the Levy area (near my mom's house). I called to make sure she was aware of it because she had been home sick. She was watching the news then.
Well, about that time our cable went out and I started to panic just a little. Surprisingly, most radio stations did NOT have any coverage of the storm. We finally found one that was linked to the news station we had just been watching. I located my walkman and had it set to the same station in case we lost power. I lit candles, found an old TV antenna and waited...
Then, the most bizarre thing happened. It left the Levy area, and went up the hill to Remount Road. All of the sudden the meteriologist says they have completely lost all signals b/c the storm is directly over the National Weather Service... Luckily, Memphis was able to pick up the signal, but it was a scary time for everyone. (I found out that at this point is when my sister lost all power at her house...and had no radio to listen to).
The tornado destroyed the North Little Rock airport and most of the planes there (small private planes) and was leaking fuel. The news stations kept saying it was in North Little Rock and that Jacksonville needed to take cover, but they weren't saying anything about Sherwood. They said the storm was moving near JFK and North Hills (which is about a mile from out house)! They finally mentioned for Sherwood to take cover so we decided it was time to get the girls.
Now, I am not a person that is normally afraid of storms, nor do I take extreme precautions when we are in a torando watch/warning. So I stood at the top of the stairs and thought it over again, making sure it was the right time (because I did NOT want to wake them up if I didn't have to...I dreaded getting them back to sleep again). Then the meteorologist said the tornado was moving down Marilyn (near our house but REALLY close to Emily's) and I went in an grabbed them. I woke Olivia first and told her to go downstairs in the playroom with Daddy... She was not too sure about it (and was half asleep), but she did what she was told. Then I grabbed the baby and quickly went downstairs. My biggest fear at this point was our roof would come off. Our upstairs has the slanted roof lines with no attic above our heads so any little tree falling on us or hole in the roof would make a big difference (much less if our roof was completely torn off!)
So, we got in the playroom closet under our staircase, blew out the candle and waited... Olivia asked what we were doing and I think I tried to play it off like fun and different, but I know she heard the rado and knew it was serious. They didn't cry, or fuss at all! And that was a blessing in itself. Isabella sat in my lap, head on my shoulder as we sat in the pitch black. There was no wind, no rain, nothing at that point...and that scared me too.
But it wasn't just a few minutes before the meteorologist was saying the storm had moved onto Gravel Ridge area and on to the LRAFB in Jacksonville. We felt it was safe enough to come out, and I put the girls back in bed. I did not hear one peep from them rest of the night. I couldn't believe it!
At this time it is about 11ish or so. We watched the news as reports of the damage in Sherwood came in and I was horrified. The high school had damage to the autitorium and the roof peeled back on another part of it, the sports complex had extensive damage to several ball fields and the concessions gone, power lines down, trees down, houses damaged, etc...
Brian called Emily and Justin (because all of this happened within a few blocks of their house) and Justin said they did not have power, but were ok. I was quite worried about them. We were just about to go to bed when another wave showed up on radar...with the timeline of being here in an hour. So we stayed up longer to make sure we were out of the woods and we were lucky again.
After talking to my sister today, I realize just how close the tornado was to us. She knows she heard the 'train' and whistling sounds that are associated with the tornado (and a co-worker lives near there as well and heard the same things along with the air being sucked up and out of her vents...SCARY!)
I am so thankful that our family is fine and received no damage at all! We are so blessed!!!
And that got me thinking this evening, if my house was to be taken by a tornado (or anything for that matter) at least I have this blog started with stories and pictures stored online somewhere. I could retrieve our memories if I ever had to (but I hope I never have that issue...). It also makes me realize I need to be better about blogging more often. So, be on the look out for more posts soon (and I promise they will have pictures to go with them).
