So I am still a day behind, but with the storms last night I did not turn the computer back on. I will catch up tomorrow, or maybe tonight.
The pictures are actually from the morning's storms.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011 was a day that started and ended with storms that were beyond severe. I have lived in Alabama my whole life and NEVER have I seen anything like what happened.
It all started at about 4:30 when we were woken up by our weather radio going off. We got up to watch the weather and let the boys sleep. It was about 5:30 when we could literally feel our house shaking. We went and grabbed the boys and put them downstairs. Brandon said that he did not even know he could still pick up Danny especially from a sleeping state. We waited down stairs watching the weather and when the straight line winds were past us we brought the boys upstairs and let them sleep for a little longer, but this time in the living room. We got ready for school and headed out. We had to detour our normal route due to trees down. I got Danny to school without too many problems, just a lot of trees and limbs down. On the way to John Michael's school there were many more trees down and as we got closer I wondered if they even had power. They did not so I paid for the zoo and we came home. Danny's school closed at noon and so did the Network, so Brandon picked up Danny and they came home.
The first part of the afternoon seemed mild. Then it started.
First was watching the tornado live in Culman. It was unbelievable and very scary. Usually these storms come through overnight and they cannot be seen because of the terrain in Alabama and or the fact that it is dark, this was totally different. This storm was very big, and the damage was scary.
Then a storm was headed for Tuscaloosa, this path usually means it is headed for us next. We watched the weather as the stations were getting their cameras aimed in the direction the storm would be coming. When it showed up it was HUGE. My heart sank for all of the students and the parents of those students who were not there to hold their babies. I know when weather is bad there is nothing that I prefer to do than know that my family is together. We watched in complete shock as this monster ripped through the city. It was truly the most terrifying thing that I have ever seen. As we continued to watch this monster was headed to us on the ground.
The landmarks that were being used for this mile wide storm were less than a mile from us. We had moved our Christmas decorations from under the stairs and went in there. We took the cushions from the couch in the den to cover with and we prayed. We heard the storm, the hail and then a strange sound followed by silence. We knew then it was over us. We prayed and then it was over. We are so thankful that we are safe, our house was safe and all we know is that it is because we put it in God's hands and He kept it in the air above us and did not let it drop down. Our prayers quickly changed into prayers of Thanks and then for the safety, and healing of the many people who were not so lucky.
We went outside, picked up the debris that had dropped and came back in to continue to watch the weather. There was another line of storms, but in comparison it was nothing. We also watched as the tornadoes continued to devastate other areas in the state.
We went to bed with heavy hearts and many prayers.
