Tornado missed my mom's house and my little girl by about a 1/4 mile yesterday

[underpants]

Tornado missed my mom's house AND JOSIE by about a 1/4 mile. Josie is at my mom's house for part of springbreak. The sawmill at the 3:55 mark, with the trailer with the splint right through it, is about 400 yards (as a crow flies) from my mom's neighborhood.

http://youtu.be/HGcc5xImAKk

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. That is scary, my dear underpants...

I'm really glad they're OK.

:scared:

:hug:

[YellowRubberDuckie]

2. Terribly Scary.

Thank Goodness they are OK.
Honestly, 1/4 mile in Oklahoma means we're standing on the porch watching it pass. LOL

[underpants]

3. They could have watched from my mom's front room

"Nanna" was of course playing with Josie and they were oblivious that it was happening. Mom is slipping a bit. I got freaked out watching that and the other two videos of the damage on you tube.

[davsand]

4. A few years ago I was at work and Material Girl was with her after school lady.

I work about 15 miles from here, and our local tornado sirens went off while I was at work. As soon as we got an all clear signal, I pulled up local emergency services (one of the few perks about working in a government office) and found out that it was, indeed, a funnel cloud on the ground headed for my child and my house.

I was done for the day.

I drove home at a pretty high rate of speed and made it to the edge of town only to be met by flashing lights and barricades. There stood the volunteer fire chief, and he stepped up and said he couldn't let me into town.

I've known this man my entire life. I babysat his girls when they were little, and when my dad had one of his heart attacks Denver was one of the first responders. He's a big guy, a former combat marine, and he was between me and my child. I looked him in the eye and I said "Denver, my kid is in there and I need to make sure she's ok."

He raised both hands up and stepped back. "Laura, your house was not hit, and if you promise me you will drive directly to your house you can get there if you go down south of town and drive in past ________'s house. There are live wires down and a bunch of downed trees, but I'm pretty sure you can make it to your daughter."

It was an unholy mess, but I made it to my driveway. Most of the damage was in the central part of town--kind of like a swath taken out--but my kid had been on one side of the damage and my house on the other. She and the after school lady had moved to the basement playroom when the sirens went off.

Later, it was claimed that it had been straight line wind damage, but I found too many limbs that had been twisted off rather than snapped like a straight line wind would have. I saw Denver a few weeks later and I thanked him for letting me into town. He kinda laughed a little bit and he told me that for a split second he'd honestly thought I was gonna try and go through him that day. I can't honestly say if I would have or not.

Never underestimate what we parents will do if we think our kids might need us.



Laura

[applegrove]

5. Thank gosh!

[Gormy Cuss]

6. Wow. Thank goodness it was a miss.

1/4 mile is close.