revisited...

March certainly came in with a bang.  Or a roar.  Thunder and lighting accompanied by round after round of tornadoes swept through our area on Friday.

It's been barely a year since the last devastating tornado storm, and some of last year's victims were struck again. 

Thankfully, the damage doesn't seem to be quite as widespread as last year, but it is still devastating in the areas that were hit hard.

I can't remember ever having tornadoes around here.  Growing up, there were storms that had the potential to create a tornado, but I don't remember one ever actually touching down.  So, two massive tornado storms coming through just barely a year apart is quite bizarre and scary.

After the devastating blow this area took last year, I think everyone was a bit petrified when the warnings started coming in on Friday morning.  I actually had no idea.  We were out shopping all morning.  As soon as we got home and walked through the back door the weather radio went off and within about twenty minutes a tornado went through the part of town that we had just been in an hour earlier.

Several more passed through throughout the day.  Each time we would all run and huddle in the small bathroom under the staircase.  I never would have thought that four full grown people and a dog could fit in there, but we did!  Of course, I did have someone's knee in my face at one point, but we fit!

The last one was the worst.  It was about 8 pm.  We were glued to the TV and suddenly we could hear things picking up outside.  While we wedged ourselves back into the bathroom, Daddy peeked outside.  Even though it was dark, he could see a big black cloud coming right for us. 

I don't think I've ever been quite that scared before.  The wind was screaming, the lightning cracked every second and a half, and it sounded like the whole sky was falling on the house. 

After a few minutes, it was gone. 

We stepped out on the porch into a strange silence.  There was ice everywhere.  If the sky is made up of 1-1 1/2 inch pieces of hail than it did indeed fall on our house!  I've never seen hail that big in my life!

Thankfully, everyone in our family made it through unharmed.  Some had minor damages, but we're all safe and that's all that matters.

I don't have pictures, like I had last year.  Honestly, I didn't really feel like going around snapping pictures like a nosy tourist while people were trying to dig their lives out of the rubble.  Besides, the pictures are all the same.  Different houses and different landscapes, but the same devastation.

I ask you to keep the many victims of these storms in your prayers as they pick up the pieces.  Many have lost their homes and some lost their loved ones and they all need your prayers.