Tornado 2013

 

 

On November 17th an EF-4 tornado hit Washington, IL -the town we live. This will be one of those days I will never forget. It is also one of those days that you think could never happen to you. Here is our story from that day:

I woke up and headed downstairs around 7:30am. The boys and M were already up watching tv and eating breakfast. M was on the computer and as I walked in he looked up at me and the first thing he said was "it's going to be bad today." I knew he was talking about the weather because I could see the radars he was looking at. M took storm spotting classes last spring and knows a lot about weather-I call him a geek but also really trust his what he says about the weather. It was obvious the weather this day was very strange for November. It was around 65 degrees in the morning. The predicted bad weather was predicted to hit between 10-1, so we decided to skip church which was at 11. Instead, the boys and I went to Sunday school from 9:45-10:45. When M picked us up after Sunday school, he was very concerned and said we needed to hurry home and that the weather was getting bad. There was a tornado warning issued for our county. We began our short trip home and on the way the sirens began to go off and it began to hail. We pulled into our garage and hurried inside. Right away M told us to head downstairs and we all needed shoes on (on a side note at the time I thought this was very strange and was time consuming, but I cannot tell you how many people we know had to come up from their basement with glass everywhere and no shoes on). The boys and I headed to the basement and M stayed upstairs to monitor the weather.

 

This was the last picture M took at 11:05 before he came running downstairs. You can see the tornado in the distance.

 

M came running downstairs about 2 minutes after the boys and I had gotten down there. He was out of breath and I could see the fear in his face. All he said was "It's coming." I knew what he meant but I think I was in denial because I said "what's coming?" He just repeated "it's coming". We could hear the tornado approaching our house. It was the freight train that everyone described. M sat over the boys and I and held a box behind his back blocking the area we were in. We waited.

 

We heard the tornado coming and I remember thinking, "my kids are not safe and there is nothing I can do about it." It was such a helpless feeling. I thought about nothing but my family in the moments the tornado hit. The boys were very brave through the whole thing and stood silently. We heard a lot of things hitting our home and it lasted for a few seconds and then it was gone.

 

I made M go upstairs and check the house because I was afraid of what we would see. Luckily, our home only had minor damage. We then did what everyone does after a tornado and we went outside to see the damage. All of our neighbors were out making sure everyone was ok. We could see damage around us but relatively minor. We had no idea of the magnitude of destruction that had occurred very close to us.

 

The rest of the day was a blur. I'm fairly certain we were in shock of what had happened. We had no power and did not get it back until 4 days after the tornado. The sound of sirens from rescue vehicles started soon after the tornado and did not stop all day. Helicopters flew over our home and were landed in the park up the street from us. There were people walking to get into our subdivision since they were not allowing anyone to drive in. M went to help our friends Joe and Tammi. They live close to us and it was obvious they had extensive damage to their home. I stayed with the kids at home and watched the events unfold in our neighborhood. This was the first chance M had to see the massive damage the tornado had caused.

 

The other part of the day I want to document and not forget is the text messages I sent to my mom and sister:

Me: Can't really talk in front of the kids but tornadoes around us and sirens going off (11:02am)

Jenna: Oh no! Stay in the basement and be safe!

Me: It's coming please pray

Jenna: Holy crap! How close?

Jenna: I saw a tornado on the ground near Washington!!? U still ok?

Mom: R u guys ok?

 

I felt bad because after the tornado our cell phones didn't work. We could not call out and could barely get texts through. My mom and sister spent quite awhile not knowing if we were ok.

 

 

The path the tornado took went from one end of our town to another. This map just shows the path through our neighborhood. You can see how close it came to our house.

 

We had to leave our home after the tornado since we did not have power. We stayed with my friend Alison's parents who were so kind to take us in. When it became obvious it was going to be a long time before power would be restored to our neighborhood and that G would not have school until after Thanksgiving at the earliest, my parents drove out and picked the boys and I up to take us back to Iowa.

 

Tornado stats:

The tornado was on the ground for 45 minutes. It went 46 miles. It is estimated that it destroyed or damaged over 1,000 homes in our town. There were 2 deaths.

 

Here are some pictures we took of the some of the destruction. Pictures don't really do it justice. It takes your breath away to see it in person.

This is our friends Matt and Becky's home. Becky was home alone with her two boys when it hit. Thank goodness they were safe but their home was considered a total loss. M went and took pictures and video of it being demolished for Matt and Becky today.

 

It has been 3 weeks since the tornado and this is still the destruction that is all around us. This is what we drive through everyday to get to G's school:

 

 

I cannot tell you how many friends and neighbors we know that either lost their home, can't currently live in their home, or had damage. It seems like everyone. We feel very fortunate that our home was ok but our hearts truly break for our friends that lost a lot. It is so hard to see. There has been good things to come out of this experience. The generosity that our community has shown to those affected has been amazing. It is a close community that has been brought closer through this experience.