This whole situation with the storms has made me feel a little helpless.
Not because I feel more vulnerable knowing what could happen.
Not because I have loved ones who have lost property or loved ones of their own.
But because I can't physically help.
OK, maybe if we weren't on such a shoestring budget I could help financially, or go buy things that are being requested. And I fully intend to do some cleaning out for clothes and toys and such to donate to those who lost what they had. But it kills me to not be able to leave and go where volunteers are needed for clean up, for searching, for something that needs doing. With three small children, one of them nursing, and no one to help me with them, I know it is next to impossible for me to do that right now. And I know how important it is for me to take care of them. And I am sure there will be opportunities for me to help in future times (although I pray not to this scale). But that doesn't stop it from being frustrating. I see Jeremy going out every day working. Granted, it is part of his job as an excavation worker, and most of the stuff around here is relatively minor - trees down, a few trees on houses or buildings and such - but he is still out there doing something. Grrrrr.......
At least I can sit here and pray.
Showing posts with label storms. Show all posts
Showing posts with label storms. Show all posts
Monday, May 2, 2011
A Week to Remember
Wow, what a week we had.
It all started out as a normal week. School, work, Ty had his first eye dr. appointment. Yep, he's getting glasses. He won't have to wear them all the time, but the more he wears them the better, Dr. R said. So, we are waiting to hear that they are ready.
It all started out as a normal week. School, work, Ty had his first eye dr. appointment. Yep, he's getting glasses. He won't have to wear them all the time, but the more he wears them the better, Dr. R said. So, we are waiting to hear that they are ready.
Then came Wednesday.
It started off pretty much as usual. I was laying in bed letting Audrey nurse and Jeremy was about to get up and start getting ready for work. Around 5:30 or so, I guess. I'm not sure. There was a nice little thunderstorm going outside. Jeremy's cell phone rang, and it was Pam, our preacher's wife, saying she was about to come over bc of the bad weather. (We have a big basement so at our house bad weather = block party!) Jeremy jumped up and started getting dressed. I decided I'd go ahead and let Audrey finish nursing and then get dressedPam is a little storm-nervous, so she always comes way before it gets bad. Well, then things started happening fast. So fast in fact, I'm not sure what order everything happened in. Our boys woke up and were headed downstairs (they are early risers, anyway), and then the power went out. It was looking really nasty out there. Jeremy's parents showed up, and he went up the driveway and got his aunt to bring down here. He got a call from Pam saying there was a tree down across the road and she had to turn around. It got pretty bad here for a little while. Then it looked like it was going to clear up for a while. Everyone went home with promises of being back later in the day when it got bad again....And it did.
This turned out to be one of the worst storm systems to come through in a LONG time. I think since 1932, they said. North Alabama got a swarm of tornados in about 5 waves of bad weather, hitting the same towns and communities over and over. And middle Alabama got one pretty bad tornado, too. It was so reminiscent of a year ago (almost to the day) when the storms came through Albertville and tore up jack, only more widespread. Most of North Alabama has been without power for a while. Ours just came back on last night. Some places had their water declared undrinkable. Last I heard there were over 300 deaths from this system, with 2/3 of them in Alabama. Hundreds of homes and businesses destroyed.
It hits close to home for me, not only because my hometown got a lot of bad damage, but because this is the second year in a row my home escaped by less than mile. Both times we have had trees down in our pasture. Last year, there was a line where the tornado touched down just a couple hundred yards from our house, in the pasture. This time, some neighbors had barns completely destroyed. It got bad enough this time we got in the storm room, not just the basement. Jeremy's cousin and sister watched rotation start forming directly over our house. Thankfully, it didn't touch down here, but it was one that did so much damage in Guntersville and north as we watched it move away. Last year our power was out 3 days; this time, 5. But we are so blessed and thankful that everyone in our family is alright.
The good news is, the state of Alabama and the country have come together beautifully in refief efforts. Alabama the beautiful will be back on her feet in no time.
In other news, Audrey crawled for the first time AND got her first tooth yesterday! That, the power coming back on, and the news of Osama bin Laden's death made yesterday an extraordinary day.
It started off pretty much as usual. I was laying in bed letting Audrey nurse and Jeremy was about to get up and start getting ready for work. Around 5:30 or so, I guess. I'm not sure. There was a nice little thunderstorm going outside. Jeremy's cell phone rang, and it was Pam, our preacher's wife, saying she was about to come over bc of the bad weather. (We have a big basement so at our house bad weather = block party!) Jeremy jumped up and started getting dressed. I decided I'd go ahead and let Audrey finish nursing and then get dressedPam is a little storm-nervous, so she always comes way before it gets bad. Well, then things started happening fast. So fast in fact, I'm not sure what order everything happened in. Our boys woke up and were headed downstairs (they are early risers, anyway), and then the power went out. It was looking really nasty out there. Jeremy's parents showed up, and he went up the driveway and got his aunt to bring down here. He got a call from Pam saying there was a tree down across the road and she had to turn around. It got pretty bad here for a little while. Then it looked like it was going to clear up for a while. Everyone went home with promises of being back later in the day when it got bad again....And it did.
This turned out to be one of the worst storm systems to come through in a LONG time. I think since 1932, they said. North Alabama got a swarm of tornados in about 5 waves of bad weather, hitting the same towns and communities over and over. And middle Alabama got one pretty bad tornado, too. It was so reminiscent of a year ago (almost to the day) when the storms came through Albertville and tore up jack, only more widespread. Most of North Alabama has been without power for a while. Ours just came back on last night. Some places had their water declared undrinkable. Last I heard there were over 300 deaths from this system, with 2/3 of them in Alabama. Hundreds of homes and businesses destroyed.
It hits close to home for me, not only because my hometown got a lot of bad damage, but because this is the second year in a row my home escaped by less than mile. Both times we have had trees down in our pasture. Last year, there was a line where the tornado touched down just a couple hundred yards from our house, in the pasture. This time, some neighbors had barns completely destroyed. It got bad enough this time we got in the storm room, not just the basement. Jeremy's cousin and sister watched rotation start forming directly over our house. Thankfully, it didn't touch down here, but it was one that did so much damage in Guntersville and north as we watched it move away. Last year our power was out 3 days; this time, 5. But we are so blessed and thankful that everyone in our family is alright.
The good news is, the state of Alabama and the country have come together beautifully in refief efforts. Alabama the beautiful will be back on her feet in no time.
In other news, Audrey crawled for the first time AND got her first tooth yesterday! That, the power coming back on, and the news of Osama bin Laden's death made yesterday an extraordinary day.
Friday, March 25, 2011
My Little Meteorologist
I have a love/hate relationship with stormy nights.
On the one hand, it's relaxing and nice to hear rain on the roof and thunder rolling, and watch the lightning flash across the sky.
On the other, I have seen the damage severe Alabama thunderstorms (and the tornados that often pop up with them) can do.
Back to the first hand...it is so much fun to watch my junior meteorologists get excited about the weather. Both of the boys like to talk about storms - especially since the big one that caused so much damage in the community almost a year ago - but Ty is almost obsessed with the weather. He loves looking at the radar and watching the weather channel. A little hail storm came through earlier, and he was dancing with the broom saying, "It's coming a BIG hail storm! Ice cubes are falling on the porch!" He was so excited he had to call both sets of grandparents and tell them about it. He kept running to the window to watch the lightning and see if it was hailing. He finally fell asleep in my recliner watching the lightning through the big picture window. The sweetie.
We may see him on the weather channel one day.
On the one hand, it's relaxing and nice to hear rain on the roof and thunder rolling, and watch the lightning flash across the sky.
On the other, I have seen the damage severe Alabama thunderstorms (and the tornados that often pop up with them) can do.
Back to the first hand...it is so much fun to watch my junior meteorologists get excited about the weather. Both of the boys like to talk about storms - especially since the big one that caused so much damage in the community almost a year ago - but Ty is almost obsessed with the weather. He loves looking at the radar and watching the weather channel. A little hail storm came through earlier, and he was dancing with the broom saying, "It's coming a BIG hail storm! Ice cubes are falling on the porch!" He was so excited he had to call both sets of grandparents and tell them about it. He kept running to the window to watch the lightning and see if it was hailing. He finally fell asleep in my recliner watching the lightning through the big picture window. The sweetie.
We may see him on the weather channel one day.
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