We are now at day 5 after the storms and things are starting to normalize around here for us, but not for many others. Our power came back yesterday; however, we felt lucky that it was our only real inconvenience.
As the day started, the storms began to build, the weathermen were on-air full-time from early morning until late at night. It was amazing, there was one powerful thunderstorm after another, building up to an onslaught of tornadoes later in the afternoon. Our worst storms began shortly after 4:00, pictures taken from our back door didn't look like your typical storm clouds, they had that greenish cast that you often hear about.
Out front of the house was a whole different story, it was dark and black, and the storm wall clouds were very distinct. And there was a lot of motion in the clouds.
Looking out back again, there was now a tremendous amount of thunder and lightening. Certainly not one to be afraid, I was out there with the video camera and Lance had a hold of the camera snapping away!
Of course, we also kept one eye and ear on the tv coverage in case we needed to seek a safe place.
Shortly after 4:30, the weatherman said that there was a tornado heading right off of I-65, coming down County Line Road by the new high school and all of the new subdivisions. That is when things got serious for us and we knew we had to head into the bathroom as this is exactly where we live. Wanting to document every last moment, we grabbed Max and headed into the bathroom, cameras in hand. We had been there a couple of times already during the afternoon so it was loaded with the laptop, 2 ipads, 2 phones, and now a digital camera and video camera.
Not content to get into the tuck position and be prepared, I was at the window filming with Lance over my shoulder snapping shots (pictures, not liquor!).
blurry but you can see the cloud wall heading our way
It wasn't until I could feel the pressure on the bathroom windo heaving in and out that I decided it was time to get away from the window, shut the door between it and stay in the enclosed portion of the bathroom. I'd never felt anything like that, you could feel the pressure going up and down around the window - almost like the atmosphere was breathing these incredible, huge, in and out breaths.
As things settled down, we came out of the bathroom not completely aware that a tornado has passed over us. It was when we went outside and saw a length of fence down, and a small tree blown over and starting put the pieces together that we realized what had happened.
The storms continued on until later that night. Although the thunder and lightening was tremendous and the skies continued to look ominous, there were no more tornadoes in our area.
It wasn't until the next day that we began to realize what had occurred not only in our area, but in the entire state of Alabama. This turned out to be the 3rd most deadly outbreak of tornadoes in history. We were incredibly lucky, there are still hundreds of thousands without power, thousands without homes, and hundreds who lost their lives. Such a sad day.
One thing that we found amazing was the quality of coverage of these storms in our area. The weathermen were fantastic in keeping everyone informed and that wasn't easy with all of the action taking place. City leaders have been incredible in getting information out via Facebook, radio, and other media. Anytime we turn on a radio there has been a mayor, county commissioner, or other community leader on air keeping people informed about the power situation, curfews, volunteer operations, and everything else involved with the events that occurred. Even the local radio personalities were amazing - answering phone call after phone call with questions about specific areas or passing on where to buy gas, ice, groceries, etc.
Many people have suffered incredible losses and are still suffering greatly. Although much attention has been given to the Birmingham/Tuscaloosa area, please know that there is considerable devastation in the Huntsville area too and keep those people in your thoughts.
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