As you know, last week had some of the worst tornado activity in the history of the U.S. Many have been left without homes, whole towns have been nearly destroyed. Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee were hit the hardest. You can see some of the Google Earth before and after photos here. Just mouse over the photo to see the “after” image. More images of Alabama can be seen here. They were taken by a very talented photographer, Amanda Chapman. Please scroll down through her blog to see the unbelievable devastation left in the wake of last week’s storm. When you’re done, I’ll be here to tell you my own tale.
Done? Need to get a tissue to dry your eyes? I’ll wait.
Ready? Good. As Mrs. Mom loves to say, “hold on to yer butts!” It’s going to be a bit hair raising.
I grew up in the Pacific Northwest. Tornadoes just weren’t part of our weather vocabulary. About as close as any one in the PNW got to tornadoes was while watching The Wizard of Oz, when the tornado whisked Dorothy out of Kansas. Earthquakes, blizzards, flooding… Those were normal. Tornadoes just were not part of life there.
Flash forward to June 2009. We had a rare tornado cell go right over our house in Oregon.
In March of this year (2011), we discovered I cannot hear the tornado warning siren one town over, about 4 miles away. What we didn’t know is that we are surrounded by sirens. And as we learned on April 27th, I can hear some of the other sirens around us.
That fateful Wednesday morning, I woke up and hustled Dude out the door for his CRCT testing (state education standards testing). We were there a little before 8 a.m. Bad Pants had let me know that we were due for high winds and thunderstorms in the early afternoon, before I’d left, so I shouldn’t really stop to see the horses on my way home that day. At 8:30 a.m., BP texted me that our local tornado sirens were going off. Minutes later, I heard a loud, annoying buzz coming from inside the building we were in for testing. I had no idea what the noise was. Of the other 20 or so parents that were waiting with me, no one seemed alarmed. NO ONE got up to investigate. NO ONE moved to another room, away from the 20′ high floor-to-ceiling windows. NO ONE.
About 15 minutes later, I found a building official who told me the noise I heard was a weather radio. It had gone off signalling a high wind warning for the area. She kindly reset the weather radio to go off only for tornado warnings, as she had heard about the sirens going off near my home herself, on her way in to work. Then, she told me they had an emergency plan in place and filled me in on it, easing my mind.
Bad Pants texted me to tell me the sirens had gone off due to a pressure change from high winds. Everything was ok. He reiterated that I should not dawdle coming home though.
The trip home was uneventful. I’d noticed the sheer number of dead animals at the side of the road on the drive in and home. Odd, I know. But, I have a theory about that for another time. The important thing here is that they were all predators. All of them. Let’s just say it was extensive (and odd, don’t forget odd) for the sake of moving forward in the story.
Once home, Bad Pants filled me in on the tornado that hit Chattanooga, TN. Chattanooga is only a couple hours north of us, and very near where Barrow’s breeder lives. I started paying close attention to the weather reports online. The weather alert services I signed up for in March kept sending me messages that we were under Tornado Watch. I paid very close attention, even following The Weather Channel on Twitter.
As the afternoon progressed, we started hearing more and more reports about tornadoes hitting Alabama. Around 4:30 p.m., Barrow’s breeder popped up on Facebook, letting everyone know they were ok. A tornado had touched down in her front yard at 8:30 a.m. that morning and moved off into Chattanooga. They were all ok, with only minimal damage done to fences. Approximately twenty minutes after her Facebook posting, 2 more tornadoes struck her area and she fell silent.
Around 5 p.m. we were put on Tornado Warning. My phone went off every few minutes with warning messages from the weather alert services. (I believe I counted 5 tornadoes hitting Tuscaloosa, AL before 9 p.m.). Tuscaloosa is only a couple hours west of us. The storm was marching straight at us.
As the evening wore on, the air around us became denser. It was heavy, humid and hot. We sent Dude up to bed so he could get some rest as he had more CRCT testing in the morning. BP and I continued to watch the storm march in. By now, I had the song, “The Ants Go Marching” stuck in my head. As more and more tornado reports came in, worry really began to take hold.
Around 10:15 p.m., Rox got in my face and started licking my chin. I’ve learned this is her way of telling me a storm is coming, or, she really, really needs to pee. As I’d taken her out not long ago, in preparation for the thunderstorms, I knew it wasn’t the latter. Rox chooses to be annoying to get my attention, as she doesn’t like thunderstorms herself. Her joints felt like they were on fire to the touch. I gave her some aspirin, hoping it would help her be a little more comfortable. I was certain she was hurting.
Minutes later…
Tornado sirens went off! I yelled for Dude, trying my best to wake him up. I ran upstairs into his room and shook him so hard I was afraid I was going to break his arm. It was hot. Like a baby wrapped too much and quite warm, Dude was difficult to wake. Just as I grabbed him to drag him bodily downstairs, he woke up. We ran downstairs to climb into our tornado shelter, a closet in my bedroom next to an old, covered over fireplace, the safest place in the house.
The wind screamed around the corners of our house. From our little closet, we heard thunder booming, drowning out the sound of the tornado sirens. Yes, sirens. We heard 4-6 different ones all told. And yes, I could hear them. With multiple sirens going off, fear really began to take hold.
I worried for my pets. The closet is too small to bring them into it. Instead, they were crated and their crates pushed into the hallway, with Roxanne in a down-stay next to them as we don’t have a crate for her. The cats huddled in the hall on their own, freaked out in their own right. I worried about my horses, 8 miles away, and hoping that my landlord was smart enough to leave all the horses turned out to pasture and not locked in stalls inside the barn.
I posted to Facebook and here on my blog, asking for people to please pray for the South. The storm that had practically wiped out parts of Alabama and Northern Georgia was at our door! My mind kept racing as to whether or not Dude would be able to go to testing the next morning, if it would be cancelled or rescheduled, or even if the building would still be there.
I don’t remember how long we stayed there. It felt like a long, long time in that hot, sweltering closet. Eventually, the sirens went off. We went back to watching the weather reports, closely tracking the storm. And when it looked like it was all done for a while, we sent Dude back up to bed.
No sooner had we done that than Bad Pants looked out the window to see a funnel cloud out our southern-facing windows. No tornado sirens were going off. No emergency text messages on my phone. And the funnel cloud was CLOSE. For the first time, terror truly struck my heart. I screamed for Dude to get downstairs and we all ran for the closet again.
No sirens. NONE. Wind was screaming around my house as we waited and waited for the tornado to hit. I believe we individually prayed more than we’d ever prayed before. Being in that closet without any sirens going off, without any way to know what was happening was terrifying. Was it going to hit us? Was it going to roar on by? What about the neighbors? The woods behind us? The hay field across the street? Had it touched down? How would we know when it would be safe to come out again?
Eventually, it got a bit quieter. Bad Pants ventured out of the closet, looking out the window. That particular storm cell had moved on. It wasn’t in sight.
We came back out of the closet again, checked the weather reports, checked our weather warnings. (Still on Tornado Warning). And then the reports started rolling in. The funnel cloud we saw moved off north-east of us, throwing cars and rolling semis on the freeway, east of here.
The storm had marched up to our area, broke apart to go around us to the north and south, and then form up again a few miles to the east of us. There were tornado reports to the South and North of us, but the funnel cloud we saw went right over us, missing us completely. How? I don’t know. I watched the storm on radar march right up to the freeway, just one mile from our house. One Mile. And then it broke up, parting like the Red Sea, to go around us and re-form to the East. We were spared!
But the night was far from over.
Wave after wave of thunderstorms hit us, each one holding the potential to be carrying a tornado within it. We’d watch the orange and red lines on the radar march up to us and then break up when it reached our area on the map, only to re-form on the other side. We had thunderstorms overhead. Loud, booming, house-shaking thunderstorms directly overhead. Lightening lit up the outside like daylight. But the tornado cells kept breaking up right before they reached us.
About 2 a.m., when he had calmed down, I put Dude to bed in our closet for the night. At least I knew he’d be safe there and I wouldn’t have to drag him bodily from upstairs into the closet or worry that I couldn’t get to him in time.
An hour later, at 3 a.m., the tornado warnings came off. Bad Pants and I went to bed, listening to the thunderstorms moving away from us, but prepared to jump into the closet if need be.
We didn’t get much sleep that night. I was up at 6 a.m., getting chores done and taking Dude to testing. The sun was shining brightly, the sky blue and cloudless. Driving in to testing, we saw a little wind damage. But the odd thing was that we saw score upon score of dead armadillos at the side of the road. Only armadillos. Bodies of armadillos that hadn’t been there the day before. The predators that had been dead at the side of the road before, all the dead critters from the day before, were GONE. Only bodies of armadillos littered the roadways.
Testing happened as scheduled, even though everyone was tired. Nothing stopped. Life moved forward. I checked on the horses on the way home. They were grazing peacefully, only stopping to call to me when I stepped out of my vehicle. Life around me was peaceful and normal. You’d have never suspected the chaos that had happened the night before unless you’d been here.
I went home and continued to keep an eye on the weather over Mrs. Mom. Johnny Reb was declining and the storms containing tornadoes were marching her way. As friends from all over continued to pray for her, Johnny Reb and the family during this time, those storms broke apart, leaving her only with some thunder showers.
Barrow’s breeder was able to get a message to us that they were ok, but the homes of many of their friends and neighbors had been destroyed. By the Grace of God, the tornadoes had missed them. They would be without power for 3-4 days, but her family was ok.
Be it a topographical anomaly or not, I fully believe the prayers of many kept Mrs. Mom and I safe last week during the days of terrible tornadoes. I thank those of you who sent out prayers to whatever deity you pray to, and those of you that just sent positive thoughts our way. The tragedy that befell Alabama and N. Georgia could easily have struck us as well.
My God. I was LITERALLY on the edge of my seat reading this. I’m so glad you’re all okay!!! Maybe now’s a good time to move AWAY from tornado country, eh? Tornadoes are my number one fear (weather-wise) and I’ve never even seen one in person.
Unlike earthquakes, at least you know a tornado is coming.
I’m glad we are all ok too! I can’t determine if the fear was worse knowing what hit AL ahead of time or not. I’m usually so calm and cool in a crisis, but I did panic when I couldn’t wake Dude up easily the first time.
We’re stuck here for at least another 13 months, possibly longer, because BP is under contract with his work to stay here. At least he gets to work from home every day!
I think I’ll stay in Alaska! wow.. those were some very scary moments!! Thanks for sharing.
Rose
Having lived in AK with quakes and volcanoes, having lived in AK and moved USGS equipment and people for work because of St. Augustine, I’m not sure AK is any safer. In fact, it probably isn’t since the largest fault line in the world runs right through Alaska. Thirty some odd years later, I’ve seen the left over damage from the big quake of 1964 and Mt. Redoubt’s temper-tantrums from the 90s. I think having more heads up is much more preferred, even though ALL natural disasters can be scary.
I know exactly what you went through. Tornados are one of the scariest things I have experienced. The other is hurricanes. Neither one of those are truly prepared for like you can with blizzards, earthquakes, and power outages.
When I lived in Kentucky, the conditions leading up to the tornado were just like you described – the air got very heavy, there was an odd color to it also, then hail and rain. I put my mom, my daughter, and the two dogs in the walkout basement corner furthest from the door and windows. I was bailing water from the stairwell when I saw the tornado walk the ridge behind the house. It was less than a quarter mile away.
I’m so glad that Rox alerted you even if it was in an annoying way. I’m glad that you were able to hear the sirens. And I’m really glad that those of us not in the path of destruction were able to help you out.
It’s taken some time for me to learn Roxie’s signals. But I’m so glad we have her! She gets in my face like that before every thunderstorm, every time she hears something out of place outside at night, needs to go potty, or needs to tell me something she thinks I should be paying attention to. She doesn’t like t-storms at all and shredded the carpet inside my bedroom by the door last August, the night the lightening struck our pasture, the same night we found Traveler. Since she’s cat safe and doesn’t eat the house, we don’t lock her up any more, at all. I assume that night was special. She probably felt the pressure wall break over the house, which I think caused her panic.
I think the only real reason tornadoes are so scary to us here is that we don’t have a basement in this old house. It’s an absolute requirement of the next house. I’d rather put the kids to bed on a futon downstairs in the basement if we’re on tornado watch and not have to worry about waking them up and getting them downstairs in the future.
Scary times, OS. I can’t imagine. I’ve looked at the pictures and felt a helplessness – where do those poor people start rebuilding? How can you look at the piled up sticks that used to be your house and draw another breath?
I’m glad both you and MM were able to ride out the storms in one piece.
I’ve lost everything and had to start over again before (divorce- I got my clothes and a couple personal possessions), but have never lost everything in the face of devastation like that. I don’t know how I’d start over. It’s quite disheartening to see. I admit that tears still fall each and every time I look at those photos.
The roofing company here is very, very busy. They’re working almost around the clock in Alabama and Chattanooga. The guys pull in very, very late at night and leave really early in the morning after they re-stock their supplies. I think a couple times they’ve even slept in their trucks here instead of going home.
What a wild night! I was watch everything you put up on facebook that night till you called it quits for the night. I am so glad my blogger friends are ok, I was thinking about all of you… I don’t know that I would’ve gone to bed with dry undies if I would’ve looked out my window and saw what you did…
Thank you for staying up with us, Steph. It means a lot. I’m glad I didn’t see the funnel cloud out the window myself. I don’t think I’ve ever seen BP so worried before. And I’m really, really glad everything turned out ok for us.
How very odd about the Armadillos – please clue us in if you ever figure out why they died, (they are active at night right? Maybe that’s why…?).
Armadillos ARE active at night, but so are the predators. I’ve never seen a living armadillo before. I kinda think Mother Nature decided that our population of armadillos needed to be weeded out. Bad genetics, perhaps? Maybe an over-population? I traveled 20 miles round trip and saw more than 20 dead armadillos.
In our defense I would like to state that there have been several tornado touch downs in Eastern Washington. Nothing too big, not at all like the Tornado Alley – but the worst cell I can remember was Sr Year of HS – one lifted our neighbors house off of the foundation before it set it back down and another in that same storm cell picked up a loaded semi truck and trailer and flipped it off HWY not far from where our house is now. Just last year one came through our area and impaled our neighbors tree with stakes from his garden just across the road from our place. They are not frequent but they are do come through every now and then. Each time, because they were so befuddled they sent researchers from the NWS to examine the damage before declaring it a tornado, even though there was video!
I don’t remember tornadoes in E. Washington. Of course, in my defense, I was living in CA during your senior year, and most likely without tv. One also went right through the barn we used to board the VTA at in Aumsville, OR last October. It took out the fire station just down the road too. And sometimes they happen, much more frequently than elsewhere, in Vancouver, on the Columbia River. Still, they are pretty darn rare in the PNW! The Vancouver ones have something to do with the Columbia and wind patterns.
[...] AGAIN, ALL BY MY LONESOME. Driving in a strange city is right up there with the extreme fear of tornadoes, for me. But I shall don my Big Girl Pants and stop being such a damned wussy, already. Besides, I [...]
Glad to hear you’re safe!
Thank you!
Oh I’m so glad you posted about this. I wondered if all of you were okay. It had to be really scary! ((hugs))
Tornados are scary but I prefer them over hurricanes or earthquakes.
It was pretty scary! Well, not being able to wake up Dude easily was the scariest part.
I am so Glad you are safe! This is weather this year is just terrible.
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
Thanks!
How harrowing that must have been! I’m glad everybody and every animal in your circle made it through the storm unscathed (not including the armadillos). And now let us pray for a steamy, tornado-free summer.
The steamy and summer part have already started. It’ll be in the 90s today. I’m doing my best to avoid turning on the a/c for at least another month.
What a harrowing night that must have been. I’m so glad you are all ok!