We woke up Wednesday, April 27th to a nasty storm, and our tornado sirens going off. We got up and soon learned that school would be delayed until 10:00. We started watching the news and realized that there was going to be some really nasty weather, along with possible tornadoes throughout the day. We decided very quickly that we would not send Anna to school at all that day. We watched the weather all day, and by noon, it was really nasty at our house. At 12:15, another mom from school called me in a panic. She was stuck in her work building in Madison, and was not being allowed to leave.There were already spotted tornadoes. She needed her kids picked up from school where they were being released early. I threw on a jacket, and took off to the school. When I got in the parking lot, it was really nasty. lightning everywhere, hail, hard rain. I realized that I probably should have stayed home. and waited a little while. As soon as that part of the storm had passed, I ran in the school, got her kids and headed back home. She was able to come soon after and pick them up from my house. We cleared out our hallway closet, and the girls pretty much spent the rest of the afternoon inside. After it was really stormy. It got really calm. eerily calm. Danny walked outside to keep an eye on the sky. It looked like a tornado could come down at any second. We are very blessed that no tornadoes touched down in our area. There were a lot of trees down, but no serious damage.
After several hours in the closet, the girls were glad for a break to play outside for a few minutes after the storm had passed.
We kept a very close eye on the weather. Danny was able to keep in close touch with Rodney. They were in their storm shelter all day, but saw several tornadoes not far from their house.
This picture was taken from Rodney and Shanens front yard.
We are thanking God that they were not hurt, and received no damage.
My moms house was only a mile away from the EF-5 that came through Harvest. They are ok, and only had trees and limbs down. We are thanking god for that. They were a little too close for comfort.
I took these pictures in Harvest a few days later. It was unreal to see this kind of devastation with my own eyes.
This is the Sur-Save pharmacy that my mom and David used. Right off of Jeff Road. Right in front of the Piggly Wiggly. It is unrecognizable.
This was the Piggly Wiggly grocery store.
We drove around close to her house, to take in and really understand how devastating the storm was.
Neighborhoods were just taken out. There was debris, and mattresses, and anything you can imagine, just thrown throughout fields.
This is what the sides of the road looked like. There was stuff everywhere. Anna and Lucy just could not comprehend how something could be so powerful.
Our cousin Sahar was at school in Tuscaloosa, where she was one block from where the storm hit. We are so thankful that she was not hurt. She is at home safe now.
There were 312 tornadoes total on April 27, a new one-day record. The former record was the Super Outbreak of 1974 (148 tornadoes).
236 people died in Alabama (340 across all states)
We pray that God will bring peace to the families who lost family members, and to the families who lost everything.
Again, we feel truly blessed that ourselves and our family and friends are all still alive and well.
I don’t think I will ever not take a tornado warning seriously again.
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