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Thursday, February 25, 2016

Beyond the Books - Scariest Moment

This week I'm linking up with KissinBlueKaren for Beyond the Books.  This is a meme where we all answer a non-bookish question.  It's always so fun to see everyone's answers and get a peak at the blogger beyond the books.  This week's topic is - My Scariest Moment.

At first I really couldn't think of a scary moment.  I mean in general I'm incredibly paranoid - the scratching on the window is ALWAYS an axe murder never a branch - but nothing really terrifying has ever happened to me.  So I started to think about the times I've been scared and April 27, 2011 came to mind.

April 27, 2011 started with the tornado warnings sirens blaring and school delays.  This isn't uncommon here.  Huntsville, AL has been the Weather Channel's city most likely to get hit by a tornado for years.  We get a lot of warnings here and the weather people always seem to be forecasting doom and gloom.  I can't count the number of times I've stood outside and pointed out funnel clouds and wall clouds and talked about how weird it felt. Most people I know are pretty calm about tornado warnings.  If they start talking about the area you're in maybe you'll put your shoes on and get in the basement or closet but most people don't really take the warnings seriously.  Or they didn't.

Anyway back to that morning.  The warning passed and the weather cleared up a little.  The next storm wasn't expected to hit until late afternoon so Emma and Paul caught the bus to the middle school and J dropped Eleanor off at the high school. I put the Tornado (who was 15 months old) down for his morning nap and the day continued like any other day.  My mother was in the area and stopped over for a visit.  And then my phone rang.  It was J asking if I was watching the weather.   It was getting bad.  I shoved the Tornado into our pantry under the stares with my mother and stood at the window and the sky turned green and the wind picked up.  J made it home right before it hit but just barely.  And then it was calm.  We went outside and checked for damages.  Branches and trees were down everywhere but most structures looked okay.  J left to go pick up the kids.  With all the trees down what is normally a 5 minute drive took almost 2 hours.
The end of the driveway

We laughed and talked about how the weather people weren't wrong this time.  People came with chainsaws and ATVs to try and move some of the big trees that had fallen across the main road that runs by our house.  I took a few pictures.  Mother left and J and the kids finally made it home.  The kids talking excitedly over each other about what their few hours at school had been like.  The power had gone out and we made guesses as to when it would come back on and opened the refrigerator doors for 5 seconds twice so that we could make something to eat.  It was Emma who heard the news first.  There was another tornado spotted just a few miles away from our house.  We crammed back underneath the stairs.  Emma, then Eleanor, then the Tornado and me, then Paul and then J.  And we waited really in truly believing that it was nothing just like it always is.
This was taken only a few miles away and the photographer is looking in the direction of my house
Except it wasn't.  In the center of house tucked underneath the staircase passing a bag of marshmallows back and forth we felt safe but we were starting to realize the noises were getting louder.  The thunder was getting sharper and more frequent and then we heard it.  At first I thought it was the roar of thunder but the noise didn't stop.  I've heard comparisons to trains but to me the noise sounded like somebody had put a really loud thunderclap on repeat.  The noise just went on and on.  And then it stopped and there was silence.
Taken by Glenn Baeske - The Huntsville Times

When we came out we surveyed the damage.  We were so incredibly lucky.  We lost about 15 trees but the house was intact with no damage where so many of our neighbors were not so fortunate.  Whole areas and subdivisions were destroyed and 9 people in our area were killed.  The father of a classmate of Eleanor's was killed when he left the safety of the closet to tackle his daughter who just needed "one more thing" just as the roof was ripped off their house.  She survived with only bumps and bruises.

We had no power for about 10 days and school was cancelled for 2 weeks while everyone regrouped and rebuilt.  As horrible as it sounds the days after were fun.  We all slept in the living room and played board games by lantern light and the majority of the day was spent hauling branches and figuring out what we were going to do about food.
Playing Apples to Apples in the dark.  I don't remember if it was just before Easter or if Easter had just passed and I hadn't put up the decorations!

You can still see bits of the devastation that occurred that day.  There are empty lots, big dips in the ground where massive trees were pulled up and chimneys that are standing in empty fields.  And I think we all take tornado warnings a little bit more seriously now and I can still remember huddling in the dark hearing the sound of the tornado passing over the house.

So that's my story of my scariest moment which ended up being a little more long winded than I intended!

22 comments:

  1. Omg, Katherine. That certainly qualify a for the scariest moment ever! We have tornadoes here on the rare occasion, (hurricanes love Florida more) but that is truly devastating and frightening! I'm glad everyone was ok

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  2. Wow, that is terrifying. Central New York doesn't really get tornadoes, and I'm so glad for it. That is absolutely terrifying. I'm so glad you and your family were okay.

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  3. Wow. That is super scary! Glad you guys all ended up ok! We don't really have tornadoes here. Our worst weather I have ever lived through was Super Storm Sandy. At the time of the storm it was bad but it was after that was worse for us. Our oldest was just 9 months or so and we had no power and it was really cold and all that jazz. That crazy weather can be super scary!!

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  4. Wow, what a close call! Glad you guys were okay- that's a little too close for comfort. And so tragic about that father who lost his life- and the others too. We get a fair amount of tornadoes here but not like you guys do in the South. I always feel bad for the folks in Tornado Alley because they're just so unpredictable and devastating.

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  5. All I can say is, OMG! I am so glad your family and friends survived that close call and all is well, but sad for the ones who were impacted :(

    I used to live in FL and we regularly had to keep on top of hurricane warnings, and even had to put up corrugated metal shutters over our windows if one might be imminent, or we wouldn't be covered by insurance in case of a disaster. I remember my poor hubs having to climb a ladder to screw in the shutters (we couldn't afford the very expensive auto-push variety) and then us having to sit in the dark for a whole day. We personally never had damage beyond bush/trees luckily, but we did lose electricity many times and sitting in a dark, sweltering house with small kids and pets was no fun. But I can't complain... because we were on the west coast of FL when Hurricane Andrew struck the east coast and those poor people lost everything, including lives.

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  6. OMG that is so scary and it is good to hear you were all safe! I've grown up in California and we've had some big earthquakes but it's rare. Your area always has these storms so it must be really scary to get those warnings.

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  7. Oh my goodness - how lucky you were and how scary! Since I had kids, I've been incredibly spooked when tornado weather pops up and get everyone to the basement early. Things have been close enough to us enough times to scare the kids into knowing they need to be safe but so many people aren't.

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  8. My aunt and uncle moved to Oklahoma and I was always amazed at how casual they were about tornado warnings. I think we used to be more worried and scared up here for their safety than they were for themselves! We used to only get tornado warnings once every four or five years, but we have had one a year for the past three years. I only remember them doing big damage twice, but still nowhere near the damage they do down south where you are. Please my friend, build a storm cellar so I don't have to worry about you all!

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  9. Yikes!!! I'm so glad you and your family were safe! Tornadoes are terrifying. I'm sure 10 days without power was a challenge, especially with little ones!

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  10. I am so glad that you were okay. About a week before this happened to you, my area was hit by a F5 tornado. Houses in my subdivision were completely destroyed. I have become so used to tornado sirens going off that I completely ignored them. We didn't go to the basement. I have a basement and I didn't use it. I didn't take that simple step to keep my kids safe. That is something that I think about a lot. I am incredibly thankful that we were okay and nobody lost their life in the storm. We lost power for quite some time. We actually had another tornado about 2 years later that came within a mile of my home. I went to the basement for that one.

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  11. OMG, that is absolutely terrifying! I think our earthquakes here are the scariest weather events we have...but usually we are not at the epicenter, so we only feel mild rumblings. Once a town 70 miles away was at the center...and we really felt that one. And the town's devastation took months to rebuild.

    Thanks for sharing!

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  12. I couldn't really think of a scary moment this week, Katherine. However, yours really was scary. When we lived in Ohio we also had a few tornado warnings, but I think we only went to our closet shelter a couple times.

    Once was a little scary because we had really large hail. It broke a couple windows in our house and damaged our roof. A couple trees came down and our cars in the driveway all had extensive damage--all three had lots of dents, two had windows broken and one was totaled.

    It sounded like the hail was coming right inside the house. Lots of people got new roofs on their houses, but I don't think anyone was hurt. Your tornado story is much scarier.

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  13. That is a scary and devastating thing to experience. I can't even imagine. Glad to hear your family survived.

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  14. Wow. What an experience for you and you sound so nonchalant about it all. Is that under the stairs space especially built for tornado season? Is that a standard for houses? Where do the kids go at school? I guess you're used to tornados like we are to earthquakes. Growing up w/them we don't even get out of bed, LOL. Here at our new house we do feel it more as the fault is just down the street.

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  15. Wow! I've never been through something that scary or damaging. I'm so glad that you all came out perfect. Same with your house. Tornadoes are that quick and instant destroyer.
    I've been through a few category one hurricanes. But I never didn't feel safe.

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  16. I can't even imagine. How frightening! I am so glad you and your family are okay. Whenever I hear about disasters like this, especially when there is major property damage and lives lost, my heart breaks.

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  17. You got me shuddering, Katherine! That sounds really, really scary! I'm so glad you guys are all safe, and that your house didn't get any damage. I would have been so afraid. I guess it sometimes does take something big to take the warnings seriously.
    Lexxie @ (un)Conventional Bookviews

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  18. That is terrifying. i was about 4 when a tornado hit my grandmother's home in FL. I remember her huddling me and my sister in the corner and the sound was terrifying. That is all I remember though. You guys got so lucky it didn't hit the house. I can't imagine going through that with my kids. That's scary!

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  19. Omigosh, Katherine! How terrifying! I'm so glad your family and home were all right, but I'm so sorry for the others in your area, and for Eleanor's classmate's dad. I've been through a number of tornado warnings in recent years (they've really picked up in Virginia) but I've never been close enough to hear it. I always take shelter though. After we had a touchdown here in our county about 8 years ago I started taking them much more seriously.

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  20. I can't imagine how terrifying this must have been!!! Last Thanksgiving we got together with some cousins of mine who just moved to Dallas and they wanted to know about the tornadoes. We assured them that they wouldn't have to worry about them until springtime and probably not where they are located. In the 25 years that I've lived here, there have been several tornadoes but not in my hometown--I've crouched under the stairs but probably didn't need to. A few weeks after Thanksgiving we had tornadoes in the area and then the night before Cara was born they had a tornado just miles from their house. I'm sure it scared the daylights out of them!

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  21. That is incredibly scary, you guys where so lucky. Tornadoes are thankfully one thing we don't get in the UK but the footage always looks terrifying of the ones you get in the States.

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  22. That's definitely a scary one. I'm so thankful I've not had anything too serious like that even with living in Florida most of my life and dealing with hurricanes. People do get complacent with the warnings. We just had that here in NC recently and people were scoffing at the weather channel and how they'd canceled school because of storms. But tornadoes did touch down in the area though thankfully nothing too serious.

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