Friday, August 11, 2006
Whirlwind? No, tornadic!
I am up at 2am here. My head is absolutely pounding and I can not sleep. Not only was yesterday overwhelming because of the multiple boxes I had to go through in the teacher's room I'm filling in for, but on the way home, I ran into some crazy storms. I was talking with my mom and girls from a cell phone, communicating about what it was doing at home. After losing the call, I got them back on the line and they told me the news. Our hometown was hit hard, possibly by a tornado. They told me that my brother, who was trying to get home from work, had called and said I could not get to my house due to down trees and power lines. Upon arriving in my town, I dodged tree limbs to make it to my moms, which is down the street from my home. I parked there and walked to my house because I could not get through via SUV. The sad part is, while I was passing through a side street, I caught a glimpse of my house, with a few large trees on its roof. Yes, you heard me correctly. Trees fallen on my roof, and my white picket fence in the front. It is one of those weird plastic, but not plastic, material fences. Not cheap. So, I called the Husband at work before I walked up, telling him I wasn't sure of what was awaiting me. He said, "You mean like 'damage' bad from the trees?" I told him possibly. He used expletives I can't repeat. He said he'd try to leave work. I walked up the street with my oldest daughter and an umbrella.
Upon approach to the side I couldn't see from the side street, it was definitely worse than first suspected. Multiple grand trees were lying on my rooftop, porch, fence, and yard. I began shaking at the knees, afraid to open the door to the house. My fears were genuine and rightly so. Our living room was a disaster. My oldest daughter told me she was shaking and afraid to go any further. She said, "But, I want to go upstairs to see if everything's okay." I told her to find the flashlight and we'd go. We did, and her room and every sibling's room was okay. No damage other than gutters outside torn off and the view looking like a jungle of green from tree foilage. We venture into my room and were astounded. There, above my bed was a huge tree limb through the ceiling. A new skylight. My bed was soaked with rain and debris. Ruined.
Upon further investigation, the chimney bricks were moved and therefore getting ready to fall. Water was coming in from the fireplace inside and the wall on that side of our bedroom was cracking from the pull of the bricks. The downstairs living room's ceiling was falling, tiles everywhere along with water. I was frantically moving things like pictures out of the living room into the dining room to save them from water damage. I got most everything else an hour later after the Husband arrived. Needless to say, he is sick with anxiety. See, this house was his grandparents'. After they both passed away, he bought it. It wasn't cheap like some might expect when a family member dies and the house sells. It was a hot market item. And it made him sick inside to see the damage to the sentimental place. He practically grew up here.
I would try to load pictures, but I am afraid it will take the pics off the camera. So, until daylight, when I can use camera #2, you'll have to wait. I'll try as soon as I can to take more and get them up here. They look like something out of a CNN story. I am going to try to go back to sleep at some point so I can be coherent when the tree company gets here bright and early. Then the real fun begins of trying to cover the holes in the roof with tarps, plastic, etc. I've got work ahead of me, as does the Husband.
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3 comments:
Oh man... I saw the pictures posted above - the one with the tree through your ceiling. Wish I could lend a hand with the cleanup. I guess a virtual hug will have to do!
At least you are alright. Sorry about the damage.
Oh. Heavy chest pains. Every midwesterner's nightmare. Hoping it's going ok.
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