Scary Tornadoes

So last tuesday morning, Mommy dropped Joseph off at a friend's house for a couple of hours of "preschool." Mommy is part of a preschool coop. Mommy took Audrey and Katelyn to Mitch Park to play for a little while. The morning was sunny and the temperature was great! It was a little breezy, but Oklahoma is a windy place.

After Mommy picked up Joseph and we all had lunch, Mommy noticed that it was rather gray outside. Mommy realized that it was still early in the season for tornadoes, but Mommy decided that maybe she should check the internet to see if there was anything she should be aware of weatherwise. Weather.com reported cloudy skies for Edmond and scattered thunderstorms, but nothing about tornadoes or hail or anything in the nature of severe weather warnings.

So, Mommy decided that everything was fine after all. Mommy put Katelyn down for a nap and Audrey as well. Not long afterwards, Daddy called and told Mommy to check the news. Daddy said there was a tornado in Yukon and that it was possible that there would be tornadoes in Edmond. After Daddy called, the next door neighbor called and said that there really were tornadoes and to listen to the radio. She said the radio or TV station would track the tornadoes and warn us when to take shelter.

Mommy wasn't sure how serious the situation was. Our satellite kept cutting out because of the storm. Joseph wanted to watch a movie and Mommy told him no, she was trying to watch the news. Joseph pushed the button and changed the channel so Mommy yelled at him because she was feeling a little anxious by that point. Mommy finally gave up on the satellite and got out the radio. After listening for a few minutes, Mommy decided that she should wake the kids up and we should hunker down in the hallway as the safest place in the house. Mommy had a hard time hearing anything on the radio because the kids were talking and playing in the hallway. Mommy had flashlights and snacks. A few minutes later, our neighbor called again and said that we needed to get in our storm shelter. She came over with her son and we all got in the storm shelter in the backyard.

The tornado was a couple of miles away when we got in the shelter and had been projected to come straight thru our area. When we got out of the shelter maybe 15 minutes later, our other neighbors said that the storm had turned east and missed us. The only damage we had was to our roof from the golf-ball sized hail that fell from the accompanying storm. We'll probably be getting a new roof.

Only a mile or so down the road from us, there was alot of damage from one of the tornadoes. Several tornadoes actually touched down in Edmond. Mommy found out that a tornado had hit between a middle school and Mitch Park where Mommy had taken Audrey and Katelyn just a few hours before. The Oak Tree neighborhood where the million dollar homes were destroyed was where Doss' corporate Christmas party was held. It was weird to drive along the roads a few days later and see the damage...of course Mommy forgot her camera so she didn't get any pictures.

Mommy and Daddy feel blessed that we are all safe and that there was minimal damage to our home. The kids actually thought it was great fun to get in the shelter so there was no crying or "freaking out" or anything like that. This was our first tornado of the season. Mommy is not really looking forward to tornado season. This one was really a bit close for comfort.