Tornados

By only the grace of God, we were spared on Friday. I came home for lunch on Friday and while I was on the phone with my BF Cathy I heard our weather radio alarm going off. At first I thought - must be a severe weather watch because I knew we were in for some rough weather in the afternoon, but my gut told me to go listen. I went to my bedroom only to see 'Tornado Warning' scrolling across the display screen with the announcement that it would be arriving in our area in approximately 25 minutes. I got off the phone and ran my quick errand then headed for higher ground - work. I missed my timing by about 5 minutes and got caught in the midst of the storm (which lasted approximately 2 - 3 minutes). Luckily I was not hurt, and I didn't see any funnel clouds because I could not see anything. I ran into work where everyone was in our safe zones. I heard a rumor that a subdivision across the street from mine was hit. I called Matthew and asked him to check on Patrick. He called and said they had no power, but were OK and that we needed to go get him. Matthew got caught in the weather on the road as well and was not hurt. It took him almost 2 hours to get to Patrick and get home (normal time 20 minutes). Our neighbors called and said we had damage and that we needed to come home. We both headed in that direction. My 15 minute commute turned into almost an hour and half. My neighborhood was hit and the tornado luckily picked up from the ground and fizzled out after going in between my house and our neighbor's home. We had some pretty bad damage (see below) but were the lucky ones. A neighbor whose house sits on the street directly behind me had six trees land on his home and it is destroyed. I am thankful for the presence of God as he watched over Matthew and I while we were driving, for protecting my child and his school, and for reminding me how blessed I truly am.I can't say enough about the good Samaritans that live around me. We had friends and neighbors climb our roof to put tarps on before the next rain. My father, mother, and brother-in-law came up and helped us beyond anything I could have asked for. They brought chainsaws to remove the tree from the corner, put up a temporary fence for Moseley, refelt the areas we had no shingles on, and with the overall cleanup. I must give a HUGE THANK YOU to my best friend Emily and to our neighbor Cindy who graciously took Patrick in for a few hours Friday and Saturday while we tried to clean up - which is not easy when one has a 2 yr old and the other has a 17 month old (who was also watching another 18 month old). I don't know what we would have done without you. Also, I don't know what we would have done without the help of one of Patrick's classmate's (Mary) parents - they helped with the yard and Ward climbed up with my dad and brother in law to help with the roof. THANK YOU just doesn't seem enough. Also, thank you to my cousin and her husband for lending us the industrial size chainsaws!


Please hug your loved ones a little tighter tonight - and buy a weather radio it just might save your life like it did mine!

Love
LeAnna, Matthew, and Patrick