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Posted 17 November 2005 - 09:05 PM
A body was found about 100 yards from my front door at 3am. Those were the only fatalities in my little hamlet, but nearly 30 have died in nearby towns from this same tornado. It's such a huge tragedy, and I'm still somewhat in shock as I look out my sunroom windows and can no longer see my neighbor's house, or hear them in their yard. It's all so hard to take in. It wasn't until the sun rose that morning that I slowly started to realize the entire scope of what had really happened.I just thank God that my son was spending the night at his Dad's, and was spared that particular horror.
Surprisingly, and not uncommon with tornadoes in how they skip and choose, our property was relatively untouched. We had to retrieve our patio furniture and my son's playhouse and slide...they were about 200 yards away...the glass top to the patio table was unbroken.
We were extremely blessed. But there is debris scattered over a 40+ mile track...they're finding mail from my town landing 30 miles or more away. They're saying that, at one point, the tornado was 3/4 of a mile wide, and if you were to look at it, you wouldn't have recognized it for what it was...no beginning or end...just a wall of ravage coming at you. Another near-neighbor's house ended up in the middle of the highway...He had been in an upstairs bedroom when it hit, and miraculously walked out alive.. I bet he had the ride of his life! Another near-neighbor, a retired gentleman and his wife, survived their all-brick home crashing down upon them, while they sought refuge in their basement. Some pretty amazing survival stories are coming out of this, but the tragedy is overwhelming at times.
Anyway, I'm only now able to access the internet, so I've a lot of catching up to do. I owe some replies to PM's and have a load of e-mails to sort through. Hopefully, I'll be able to get caught up soon...I've missed stopping in here and I'm glad to be back (alive!)
Btw, when you hear people say that a tornado sounds like a freight train passing over your house? That's the only way you can describe it. Now I know exactly what they mean.
