Almost all of this video comes from our immediate neighborhood.  The house at the 35 second mark is the house across the street from us.  From about 1:06 to 1:50 is all in the block or two around us, and there is more footage from our area after the 1:50 mark mixed in with other footage.  You see how lucky we were?

We had a tornado come through our neighborhood yesterday around 2:30. We were at the Guthrie for a play with H’s parents and his sister, and Juliette was home with our neighbor Kathy. It came on so fast, the tornado hit before the sirens went off. Kathy’s daughter texted me and we all got up and dashed out when we got the message. That was the most stressful ride home I’ve ever had! I knew J was OK, but I just HAD to see her for myself – and almost lost it then!  Our baby slept in her crib less than 100 feet from the tornado, with no time or warning to get her in the basement to safety – and that knowledge kinda put me over the edge yesterday.

We only sustained damage to one tree, one very big limb lost. Our neighboors two doors down suffered massive damage. Cars crushed by falling trees, parts of trees down through the roof and into the ceilings in rooms. Just tons and tons of very large trees, all uprooted in one piece and laid down in all sorts of different directions. We had to go to H’s parents to recharge our cell phones, because we had no power or phone service. The condos behind the houses across the street from us got hit really hard, and there were three big gas leaks, so they’ve shut of gas to part of the neighborhood and evacuated the condosuntil they can know it is safe. They said it would be 3-5 days before we had power, if everything went well.  As it turns out, power came back on a few minutes after 8 this morning.  The whole area has been a big work scene since the tornado hit. Lots of tree clearing equipment, lots of
power company trucks and workers – police at every entrance to the neighboorhood controlling who comes and goes. It was a cool and eerily beautiful night last night. We put Juliette to bed and sat on the back porch listening to the birds singing.

They said one man died, 22 have been injured – a baby was trapped in a car when a tree crahsed on it. One of our neighbors was taken by ambulance to hospital. We are so fortunate and tonight we are counting our blessings.  We came so close to disaster, yet are completely safe and unharmed and so much more fortunate than some of our neighbors who really have taken quite a hit.  You just never know how life can change in a moment.

Harald found a link to a video that someone took from the Costco less than a mile from our house.  The video shows the tornado exactly as it came ruight by our house.  You can click here to see the video. And then to see all the destruction in Joplin, Missouri just points out much worse it could have been.  Thanking God tonight for our safety and praying for our neighbors and the people in Joplin.  So sad, so very, very sad.