May 11, 2008
On May 10th 2008 a very powerful tornado came through our area quite suddenly. It destroyed our home and the homes of my close family. We are very fortunate because we all came out of it completely unharmed. We are so thankful to our amazing God who has kept us safe. Here's how it happened...
Dh and I live in the basement apartment of my MIL's house. I was helping my little SIL's (ages 8 and 10) decorate a Mother's Day cake for my MIL. Right when we were finishing my FIL came to visit and at shortly after my BIL (who lives next door) came over saying there was a tornado warning. We're used to tornado warnings so I wasn't too worried at the time. We were starting to get a full house so I went to clean up the bathroom while my BIL made a call to his wife to get home quickly. I was wiping down the bathroom counter and the lights went out. As I came out my ears started popping. Then we all grabbed the children and ran into the hallway where we crouched down to ride it out. The pressure in my ears let up for a moment then it hit me full force and there was a gust of wind from somewhere followed by what I can only describe as the explosion of a thousand glass windows. It shook the entire house and suddenly we could see daylight from the stairway. We ran back away from the stars and got all the little ones into the bathroom. A while later we looked outside...everything was gone. My brother and sister in law's house was destroyed, the garage/shop was leveled, and the top of the house looked to only be some walls standing. Soon after we ventured outside we smelled gas and had to leave the basement. My other brother and sister in law lived less than a mile away and their home looked like it had been blown up. I'm so thankful they weren't home and are also safe. We're together and we're safe. That's all that matters right now. I've lived in this town all my life and never thought a tornado would actually hit us.
They haven't given the tornado an official EF rating yet, but they've been saying it should be an F4 or F5. So far in our town the death toll is at 10, but it's a lot higher in the nearby town of Picher OK. I've got a ton of photos and will post them as soon as I can. Asher's been doing pretty well. He's too small to really understand that we can't go home and I think that's a blessing.
I just wanted to let you all know what's been going on and let you know that we're all safe. We're staying at a local hotel which the homeowner's insurance is covering. My MIL actually already got a check from the insurance agency today so we can hopefully begin rebuilding soon. Dh, Asher, and I are so lucky that the basement was left intact and we have most all our belongings that we can share with our family.
I'll try to get back online soon and keep you all updated. We're expecting more bad weather on Tuesday.
May 11, 2008