Nearly Blown Away!

Just when I wrote in my last installment that "tornado season" was a couple of months away, we awoke this morning to a huge storm. It is "President's Day," and we were sleeping in, enjoying the last day of our four-day weekend. I had waked up to move Hannah and Sarah over a bit---Sarah got in the bed in the middle of the night when the lightning had started. I was being crowded off the bed. Just when I got us all back where we belonged and covered up again, the rain began to hit hard against the front of the house and the window in my room.

Now our house is pretty well insulated to sound from the outside, so I know that when I can hear the rain that it is raining hard. This was harder than "hard." I jumped up, grabbed Hannah and told Sarah to get up---that I could not carry them both. Down the steps we all went, with one pillow to cover our heads.

By the time I reached the hallway downstairs that goes back to the boys' rooms, the hail had started. I put the girls down and removed the one glass picture from the hallway and set it in the dining room. Then, I went to Dan and Micah's room, opened the door, and saw Dan hurrying Micah out to the hall. I got Sam up---he could not hear a train if it came through his room for the fan in there---and they all dragged their covers instinctively to the hallway. We have no basement, no storm cellar...just the hallway and adjoining bathroom.

It all happened so fast that we did not have much time to react. The kids and I were convinced that this was the "big one" coming through. I suggested that we go on and move to the bathtub, since I figured that the shower stall would provide some insulation if things started flying. Once again, 5 kids, 3 blankets and one sleepy mom moved toward the east of our house. The noise got very loud, but it did not last much longer.

When it was quiet again, we stepped from our little safe spot and ran to the windows to survey the damage. No trees were down. That was good. Our garbage cans were probably blown 50 feet to the back tree line. I saw some debris in a neighbor's yard, but could not tell what it was.

Sarah was fascinated with the ice on the ground that had turned our flower beds white. She stepped out and got some of it to put in the freezer to show Daddy when he got home. It was about dime-sized to nickel-sized hail. There was lots of it.

I called Tim at work, and he told me that on radar, it just looked like one line of storms, so we should not get more. He also said that another fellow's wife reported the tornado sirens going off in a town about 50 miles due west of us. Later, we heard that some towns to our west and northwest suffered straight-line wind damage---they don't think there were any tornadoes.

I marvel that all this is starting in February here. It is usually late March to April through late fall that we have to worry about these storms. The way our winter has been more like Spring, so I guess that anything is possible. We are happy to all be safe and sound tonight!