waking up with sirens

When you live in Alabama, tornado sirens are a normal thing. We hear them frequently throughout the spring and fall. We found out Tuesday that Wednesday's weather wasn't expected to be fantastic and we were under a severe weather alert and we were under a tornado watch. It rained hard all night and we woke early Wednesday morning to the sound of the tornado sirens. Jason grew up in Oklahoma and is pretty good at reading the weather radar. He said, that we were not in the path of the storm and we were fine for the moment. School was put on two hour delay and we prepared to start our days behind.

I left for work with the three youngest kids at 8:45. I didn't want to send Bella to kindergarten Wednesday. I knew she would be safe at school but I really wanted her with me. I just knew the weather was going to get worse and I had a feeling we would be releasing early. I would be in the county responsible for the kids I am teaching and my child would be in the city, waiting for me to pick her up off the bus. Probably with sirens blaring. What I imagined in my mind was so much better than what actually happened.

At around 11AM, we were told that the county schools would be releasing early which meant we would be closing at 12:15. My friend, lives 20 minutes away from our school and had to leave immediately to pick up her children and get home. Our kids were watching a movie and I had a list of two classes..Then the sirens started going off. We took the kids into the designated emergency rooms and waited out the storm. And we waited. I was able to text Jason but no phone calls were going out. He told me the tornado was headed right for us and wanted to know where the kids were. I had Amelia with me. Will and Drew were with their teachers in different rooms. I prayed. They were safe and happy and no idea what was going on. The power went out and the kids did great. They sang songs and told stories by flashlight. When it was over, I still don't think they really knew what happened and what had occurred. We had only a little while to decide what we wanted to do. Stay at the church or go home. I waited until some of the people cleared out and then we left for home. Still they saw our broken building and the trees. The drive home was horrible. Trees in the middle of the road, power lines down all over the place. It was horrible. We arrived home at 1:45 just in time to see Bella's bus come down the street three minutes later. I will say huge things for our school system and the teachers.they kept our children safe. And calm, when I talked to Bella she said they just had to sit in the hall quietly in the "tornado position" and she demonstrated. The school system did their best to release them early and shut buses down immediately during the warning. They made the most out of a desperate situation and I am thankful.

At around 4PM we were put under another warning. I was only able to text message two of my good friends to find out were they were and if they were safe. One of my friends had been in a closet with her two kids since 11AM without power and was asking for updates. We still had power and she wanted to know when the next one was coming. My other friend, I wanted to make sure she and the kids had made it home and were safe. Our sirens started going off again and we went back into the pantry. We had already put blankets and pillows and flashlights in there. Our power went out. Jason went out on the deck to look and I went out to get him. We saw the tornado go over our neighbors house and I literally was screaming at him and to come back inside. It touched down not far from us and the loss is devastating.

We were able to get in touch with most of our friends throughout the night thankfully and most of them are okay. Some have a little damage but they are safe. We are without power for 5-6 days at least, maybe longer because the storm hit the power plant here. They said to leave town if you needed to, to help conserve water. We came to my parents. The destruction in Alabama is unimaginable. I felt guilty leaving because I know that there are so many people that need help and I feel like we could have done something. Driving out of town, brought tears to my eyes and left my mouth hanging open. There are foundations where there used to be houses..

The only person that I hadn't heard from and had no idea how to reach because the power was out was Bella's kindergarten teacher. I am sure that it may even seem strange to some to inquire about the where abouts of every single person you know, but this was mass destruction and my children needed to know that every single person they knew and loved was okay. I checked on all of our friends by text since that was our only form of communication. Bella continuously asked if I had heard from Mrs. H or about her. I had not and even went as far as trying to look her up on facebook.. I assured Bella that she was probably safe with her family and we would keep praying hope for good news soon. And then the call came. And that's the first time in this entire ordeal that I fighting back tears. This isn't just someone on the news. This is someone that my child loves. Having to break the news to your six year old that her teacher's house has to be rebuilt but she is safe is an almost impossible task as a parent.

This is not my picture. I assure I wouldn't be brave enough or maybe even crazy enough to be the one to take it. This picture was taken maybe 10 miles from our house. I'm not sure if it was taken during the first or second tornado to hit that area. So many people I've talked to over the last few days have asked me if the tornados "in real life" are like you see in the movies. I can tell you I don't ever want to see another one. Two in one day is more than enough for me. I promise you the damage left behind from this storm is massive.

Thank you to the people have called, emailed and texted. We are fine. Our hearts are broken for our friends and our state. We are praying for all who have lost so much..
especially Mrs. H..