4-27-11
It has been about week. It doesn't feel like it though. Some mornings I am in denial that it actually happened but then I see my car sitting in the driveway. For therapeutic reasons I'm just going to type out my story of that day. I was one of the lucky people living in Tuscaloosa.
Lauren and I had gone to bed on the later side of April 26 because we were up talking about the royal wedding and looking many random things up online. Finally we decided to call it a night for I had to be up at 5:30 in the morning. I knew the threat of severe weather was right around the corner and knew I needed a good nights sleep. I wish I had gotten it. At about 4:45 an awful storm rolled through. The lighting that came with it was just incredible. I could hear the wind outside and the rolling thunder. I didn't go back to bed. I eventually turned on any weather channel to see what had just happened. There were many school delays and my school happened to fall under a two hour delay. I was very thankful for I needed an extra two hours of sleep that morning.
I got a text from my teacher telling me that school was delayed and I needed to be there at 9:30 and that we were also getting out at noon because there was more weather to come. I honestly didn't understand why students would have to go to school for just two hours but I also understand not wanting to make up a day either. When I arrived the building did not have power. It never got power for the two hours we were there. The students got a brown bag lunch and they colored until it was time to go. At about 11:45 there was an announcement saying they were going to dismiss earlier and that every university students was to leave now. That announcement right there made me nervous. Of course I called my mom. I let her know about how my morning started and what happened throughout the day. We talked for a little bit and then I told her I would keep her updated. She was worried about me being home alone but I assured her I wasn't because Lauren and I had planned a Harry Potter Evening.
Before I left in the morning I had talked to Lauren. She asked me if I was as scared as she was from the storm that rolled through in the morning. I told her, "of course I was." She then replied saying, "I was thinking about running into bed with you but I didn't know if you were up." I told her, "Oh I was up and next time feel free to hop in the bed." We laughed a little and then I told her my concerns for later that day with the weather getting bad. We kind of wondered if it would be as bad as they kept making it out to be. That's when we had the brilliant idea of having a Harry Potter evening. We were just going to watch Harry Potter for the rest of the day while the storms came.
I got back at our house at 12:24. I went into my room and changed my clothes and got me a snack to eat. I even sat down and worked on a paper for about 30 minutes because I knew if I didn't do it now there was no way I would do it during Harry Potter. My mom called me again to talk about the weather and a few other things that were happening. While I was on the phone Lauren got a phone call too. Finally at about 1:45 we started our Harry Potter evening with the first movie of course. We were distracted throughout it because the wind was blowing in huge gust but the sun would show itself every now and then and there were no cloud storms to be seen. At about three we both agreed we should take a break to check the weather. We never finished our first Harry Potter movie.
As soon as I turned the channel to put on regular t.v. every station had their weather on. We tuned in just in time to see the last bit of the Cullman tornado caught by the live weather cam. As we watched we felt so bad for those people and we started thinking about all the destruction it had done in their town. We decided that we should just watch the weather for a little bit so we knew what would be heading our way. Then they said that Cullman was about to be hit by another tornado. Both of us were in disbelief that they would be getting hit twice in such a short time. (on a side note Lauren took out some chicken to defrost so we could have fettuchini alfredo for dinner just in case the power went out later).
As we were watching all these horrible storms on t.v. we start hearing Tuscaloosa being brought up. The first storm went through Northport (the part farthest from the University) but that wasn't the storm they were concerned about. The storm that may bring havoc on Tuscaloosa was still in Mississippi. Our first tornado sirens went off for this storm at 3:45. We looked outside. Nothing had changed since earlier today the winds had picked up a little but there was still no rain. The sirens went off about every 15 minutes from that point on. We watched as that storm from Mississippi developed to rotations with a stronger one on the bottom half. We watched as it decided to form one huge rotation. This next part our parents think is kind of funny. Lauren and I decided to go outside and look around to any possible damage that might come from this storm. We looked at where we parked our cars and tried to decided if that was the best place for them. We looked at the trees around us and picked out the ones that would probably make it and the ones that wouldn't and every possible way they could fall. We even got mad at our neighbors for leaving their trash cans on the side of the road when bad storms were coming. Those trash cans could plow into anyones car with strong winds. Once we assured ourselves that everything was alright we went back inside shut the door and locked it.
We then hear James Spann tell us that this storm heading into Alabama is either going to ride up to the northport way or go straight for the city of Tuscaloosa. It still wasn't decided yet. Andrew, Lauren's boyfriend, called and told us we were welcome to come stay at his place. He lives in Northport but we figured our house would be safer than his apartment and we just didn't feel like going out. James Spann continued to say that if the storm was going to go through the city we were looking at a path towards the stadium. Then of course being Alabama fans we were like, "oh no! not the stadium!). Then the weather showed our temperature and our dew point. They were almost exactly the same. I looked over at Lauren and said that is not good at all. The terror started to sink in that this huge wedge tornado could very well be coming right at us. Then we heard James Spann say this thing is headed straight for the city of Tuscaloosa...
The sirens went off again this time we were frantically grabbing pillows. We brought our laptops into the bathroom so we could get the live feed of James Spann so we would know what was going on. When we saw it on the live camera we decided that we needed our futon mattress in the bathroom with us. I also grabbed my backpack which had my school work and library books in it. There was nothing left to do but wait it out. We still had that one question of what the hell is a debris ball!? Isn't that what a tornado is...
We watched it get closer to us. Our parents were texting us. One that really got me to start to panic was one from my mom saying It is coming straight at you. love you. Our power was out the last image we saw of that tornado was still on the live cam it hadn't reached the city yet. Lauren's mom called in a panic. We assured her that we were in the bathroom the futon cover was over us. Then it was here. The wind picked up tremendously. Every window in our house started breaking. Lauren hung up on her mom because we started to scream and she told me in tears she didn't want her mom to hear any of this if it were to take a turn for the worse. We could hear things hitting our roof and the sides of the house. We were holding each other so tight nothing could have pulled us apart. The pressure was terrible. My ears hurt so bad and they kept popping. The noise in itself was terrifying. People refer to it as being like a freight train, I can see that, but to me it sound like a giant vacuum cleaner. The Tornado hit at 5:10 it only took it four minutes to pass. We waited in the bathroom till we heard nothing.
I slowly opened the door of our bathroom. When I saw the hallway rug had been moved to the other end of the hallway I knew that wasn't a good sign. I text my mother and told her I was okay that we were both safe. As we walked out of the bathroom everything in the house had been moved around we had so much debris that came and so much glass everywhere. I text my mom and told her we had major damage. I hadn't even seen the outside yet. Up till this point Lauren and I had been strong but nothing could have prepared us for what was waiting outside.
We opened the door to the outside. There was our tree laying across our porch. The tree we thought wouldn't fall because it was smaller than the other trees had. We had to try and step over it to get outside. There looking out from our porch was nothing. Houses that use to sit a few feet away from ours were gone. Every car was destroyed. Krispy Kreme was gone. I could see McFarland shopping centers from where I stood. I never could see any shopping centers before that moment. There were people crawling out of their houses dirty and bleeding. Peoples pets roamed the streets bleeding and dirty. I tried to call 911. I couldn't get through. I heard the sirens of the police cars and I knew that help was on the way. All the trees were snapped every power line down. I started hysterically crying. I got a call through to my mom I told her I was fine but everything was gone. She started crying. She kept asking me questions. I just kept responding with everyhing is gone destroyed. then click. I lost the call. I wasn't able to talk to her again for another four hours.
My street wasn't recognizable. We started going house to house to make sure everyone was okay. The girl who lived in the house across the street came back screaming. It made my stomach fall. We ran over there she was screaming for her dog. Who made it through the storm as well.
I ran inside I grabbed my wallet, my computer, and any other valuable I could think of. We were being told that there were more storms on the way and that we needed to find shelter. We had no power and no way of communication. Then the cops came with the paramedics they told us the storms were missing us but we needed to leave. Where do we go? We saw Lauren's boyfriend he came to get us. We ran back to the house again and grabbed some clothes to take with us and grab any more valuables. We had to walk to his car. I took one last look for the day of what use to be my neighborhood in Tuscaloosa.
I had so many text messages from people asking if I was okay. I couldn't respond to a single one of them until way later that night. When we got back to andrew's he still had power and internet. I was able to get online and let everyone know that I was okay. However, the people in Tuscaloosa had no way of knowing that. I kept trying to send text messages but they kept failing. We watched on ABC 33/40 the tornado that had passed right over us. We began to cry hysterically all over again. Seeing that thing destroy Tuscaloosa and my home made me sick to my stomach. We eventually just had to turn the t.v. off. I sat there shaking. Every little noise made me jump. Hearing people slam their car door, knock on someones door, or even a shout to their friend brough back very vivid images and memories.
As I thought back I began to cry more. I was so blessed that my house was still standing. How did my house stay standing while every other house around was gone. I kept praying that those people were safe somewhere else. I knew how lucky I was.
I got a phone call finally. My mom told me her and Laurens mom were both on their way. They were coming to get us. I wanted to be so far away from there. The memories were haunting. I didnt sleep that night. I actually didn't sleep for three nights. Every time I closed my eyes it was a replay of that terrible evening. Finally my mom made me take medicine I finally go the rest my body needed. I hurt everywhere. The last meal I ate was a small lunch at 10:30 on Wednesday the next food I ate was at 8:45 pm Thursday I had about four bites of a chicken critter salad from Texas Road House.
I got a call from my landlord on Thursday. They told me that I needed to come get my belongings as soon as I could. Looters were attempting to steal things out of houses despite the cops efforts to keep them away. They said I needed to bring a bill of the house address to get access to drive on the roads leading up to my house. My dad ins't home. Its my mom and I and her friends. I have an unsettling feeling in my stomach as we drive down there. How can a day so beautiful come after so much heartache. I tried to prepare my mom. I told her there is nothing. McFarland was shut down. However, we had the ticket to get onto it to go see the house. My mom and her friends all started to cry. She kept repeating you guys were right in and yet your house is one of the very few still standing. Lauren and I had our wonderful friends who helped us get our belongings out of that house. My car is totalled yet it started. I was able to take for one last drive.
I'm slowly starting to sleep and eat again. I can't imagine how the people feel who lost everything. I cried every time I heard one of my friends was okay. I cannot thank everyone in tuscaloosa enough who have worked relentless hours to help everyone out. The mayor has been doing a fabulous job. Going through something like this really does change your outlook on life. I'm happy to be alive. I will never take another moment for granted. I plan to go back any day now to help those who did lose everything. I am so thankful for every person who got in touch with me to ask me if I was okay and offering their assistance if I needed it. I have some awesome friends and I am very grateful for them. Tuscaloosa will rebuild. However, it won't be the same now all we can do is move forward which everyone has. We both know that we were very lucky. Why a tornado takes one house and leaves one still standing I don't know. However, I now have a fear of severe weather that I never have before. I will respect the polygon and be in a safe place whenever those sirens go off.
I wanted to thank everyone again for all the support. It is a wonderful feeling seeing all these volunteers helping everyone out. Please continue to keep all those who were victims of this storm in your prayers.
Lauren and I had gone to bed on the later side of April 26 because we were up talking about the royal wedding and looking many random things up online. Finally we decided to call it a night for I had to be up at 5:30 in the morning. I knew the threat of severe weather was right around the corner and knew I needed a good nights sleep. I wish I had gotten it. At about 4:45 an awful storm rolled through. The lighting that came with it was just incredible. I could hear the wind outside and the rolling thunder. I didn't go back to bed. I eventually turned on any weather channel to see what had just happened. There were many school delays and my school happened to fall under a two hour delay. I was very thankful for I needed an extra two hours of sleep that morning.
I got a text from my teacher telling me that school was delayed and I needed to be there at 9:30 and that we were also getting out at noon because there was more weather to come. I honestly didn't understand why students would have to go to school for just two hours but I also understand not wanting to make up a day either. When I arrived the building did not have power. It never got power for the two hours we were there. The students got a brown bag lunch and they colored until it was time to go. At about 11:45 there was an announcement saying they were going to dismiss earlier and that every university students was to leave now. That announcement right there made me nervous. Of course I called my mom. I let her know about how my morning started and what happened throughout the day. We talked for a little bit and then I told her I would keep her updated. She was worried about me being home alone but I assured her I wasn't because Lauren and I had planned a Harry Potter Evening.
Before I left in the morning I had talked to Lauren. She asked me if I was as scared as she was from the storm that rolled through in the morning. I told her, "of course I was." She then replied saying, "I was thinking about running into bed with you but I didn't know if you were up." I told her, "Oh I was up and next time feel free to hop in the bed." We laughed a little and then I told her my concerns for later that day with the weather getting bad. We kind of wondered if it would be as bad as they kept making it out to be. That's when we had the brilliant idea of having a Harry Potter evening. We were just going to watch Harry Potter for the rest of the day while the storms came.
I got back at our house at 12:24. I went into my room and changed my clothes and got me a snack to eat. I even sat down and worked on a paper for about 30 minutes because I knew if I didn't do it now there was no way I would do it during Harry Potter. My mom called me again to talk about the weather and a few other things that were happening. While I was on the phone Lauren got a phone call too. Finally at about 1:45 we started our Harry Potter evening with the first movie of course. We were distracted throughout it because the wind was blowing in huge gust but the sun would show itself every now and then and there were no cloud storms to be seen. At about three we both agreed we should take a break to check the weather. We never finished our first Harry Potter movie.
As soon as I turned the channel to put on regular t.v. every station had their weather on. We tuned in just in time to see the last bit of the Cullman tornado caught by the live weather cam. As we watched we felt so bad for those people and we started thinking about all the destruction it had done in their town. We decided that we should just watch the weather for a little bit so we knew what would be heading our way. Then they said that Cullman was about to be hit by another tornado. Both of us were in disbelief that they would be getting hit twice in such a short time. (on a side note Lauren took out some chicken to defrost so we could have fettuchini alfredo for dinner just in case the power went out later).
As we were watching all these horrible storms on t.v. we start hearing Tuscaloosa being brought up. The first storm went through Northport (the part farthest from the University) but that wasn't the storm they were concerned about. The storm that may bring havoc on Tuscaloosa was still in Mississippi. Our first tornado sirens went off for this storm at 3:45. We looked outside. Nothing had changed since earlier today the winds had picked up a little but there was still no rain. The sirens went off about every 15 minutes from that point on. We watched as that storm from Mississippi developed to rotations with a stronger one on the bottom half. We watched as it decided to form one huge rotation. This next part our parents think is kind of funny. Lauren and I decided to go outside and look around to any possible damage that might come from this storm. We looked at where we parked our cars and tried to decided if that was the best place for them. We looked at the trees around us and picked out the ones that would probably make it and the ones that wouldn't and every possible way they could fall. We even got mad at our neighbors for leaving their trash cans on the side of the road when bad storms were coming. Those trash cans could plow into anyones car with strong winds. Once we assured ourselves that everything was alright we went back inside shut the door and locked it.
We then hear James Spann tell us that this storm heading into Alabama is either going to ride up to the northport way or go straight for the city of Tuscaloosa. It still wasn't decided yet. Andrew, Lauren's boyfriend, called and told us we were welcome to come stay at his place. He lives in Northport but we figured our house would be safer than his apartment and we just didn't feel like going out. James Spann continued to say that if the storm was going to go through the city we were looking at a path towards the stadium. Then of course being Alabama fans we were like, "oh no! not the stadium!). Then the weather showed our temperature and our dew point. They were almost exactly the same. I looked over at Lauren and said that is not good at all. The terror started to sink in that this huge wedge tornado could very well be coming right at us. Then we heard James Spann say this thing is headed straight for the city of Tuscaloosa...
The sirens went off again this time we were frantically grabbing pillows. We brought our laptops into the bathroom so we could get the live feed of James Spann so we would know what was going on. When we saw it on the live camera we decided that we needed our futon mattress in the bathroom with us. I also grabbed my backpack which had my school work and library books in it. There was nothing left to do but wait it out. We still had that one question of what the hell is a debris ball!? Isn't that what a tornado is...
We watched it get closer to us. Our parents were texting us. One that really got me to start to panic was one from my mom saying It is coming straight at you. love you. Our power was out the last image we saw of that tornado was still on the live cam it hadn't reached the city yet. Lauren's mom called in a panic. We assured her that we were in the bathroom the futon cover was over us. Then it was here. The wind picked up tremendously. Every window in our house started breaking. Lauren hung up on her mom because we started to scream and she told me in tears she didn't want her mom to hear any of this if it were to take a turn for the worse. We could hear things hitting our roof and the sides of the house. We were holding each other so tight nothing could have pulled us apart. The pressure was terrible. My ears hurt so bad and they kept popping. The noise in itself was terrifying. People refer to it as being like a freight train, I can see that, but to me it sound like a giant vacuum cleaner. The Tornado hit at 5:10 it only took it four minutes to pass. We waited in the bathroom till we heard nothing.
I slowly opened the door of our bathroom. When I saw the hallway rug had been moved to the other end of the hallway I knew that wasn't a good sign. I text my mother and told her I was okay that we were both safe. As we walked out of the bathroom everything in the house had been moved around we had so much debris that came and so much glass everywhere. I text my mom and told her we had major damage. I hadn't even seen the outside yet. Up till this point Lauren and I had been strong but nothing could have prepared us for what was waiting outside.
We opened the door to the outside. There was our tree laying across our porch. The tree we thought wouldn't fall because it was smaller than the other trees had. We had to try and step over it to get outside. There looking out from our porch was nothing. Houses that use to sit a few feet away from ours were gone. Every car was destroyed. Krispy Kreme was gone. I could see McFarland shopping centers from where I stood. I never could see any shopping centers before that moment. There were people crawling out of their houses dirty and bleeding. Peoples pets roamed the streets bleeding and dirty. I tried to call 911. I couldn't get through. I heard the sirens of the police cars and I knew that help was on the way. All the trees were snapped every power line down. I started hysterically crying. I got a call through to my mom I told her I was fine but everything was gone. She started crying. She kept asking me questions. I just kept responding with everyhing is gone destroyed. then click. I lost the call. I wasn't able to talk to her again for another four hours.
My street wasn't recognizable. We started going house to house to make sure everyone was okay. The girl who lived in the house across the street came back screaming. It made my stomach fall. We ran over there she was screaming for her dog. Who made it through the storm as well.
I ran inside I grabbed my wallet, my computer, and any other valuable I could think of. We were being told that there were more storms on the way and that we needed to find shelter. We had no power and no way of communication. Then the cops came with the paramedics they told us the storms were missing us but we needed to leave. Where do we go? We saw Lauren's boyfriend he came to get us. We ran back to the house again and grabbed some clothes to take with us and grab any more valuables. We had to walk to his car. I took one last look for the day of what use to be my neighborhood in Tuscaloosa.
I had so many text messages from people asking if I was okay. I couldn't respond to a single one of them until way later that night. When we got back to andrew's he still had power and internet. I was able to get online and let everyone know that I was okay. However, the people in Tuscaloosa had no way of knowing that. I kept trying to send text messages but they kept failing. We watched on ABC 33/40 the tornado that had passed right over us. We began to cry hysterically all over again. Seeing that thing destroy Tuscaloosa and my home made me sick to my stomach. We eventually just had to turn the t.v. off. I sat there shaking. Every little noise made me jump. Hearing people slam their car door, knock on someones door, or even a shout to their friend brough back very vivid images and memories.
As I thought back I began to cry more. I was so blessed that my house was still standing. How did my house stay standing while every other house around was gone. I kept praying that those people were safe somewhere else. I knew how lucky I was.
I got a phone call finally. My mom told me her and Laurens mom were both on their way. They were coming to get us. I wanted to be so far away from there. The memories were haunting. I didnt sleep that night. I actually didn't sleep for three nights. Every time I closed my eyes it was a replay of that terrible evening. Finally my mom made me take medicine I finally go the rest my body needed. I hurt everywhere. The last meal I ate was a small lunch at 10:30 on Wednesday the next food I ate was at 8:45 pm Thursday I had about four bites of a chicken critter salad from Texas Road House.
I got a call from my landlord on Thursday. They told me that I needed to come get my belongings as soon as I could. Looters were attempting to steal things out of houses despite the cops efforts to keep them away. They said I needed to bring a bill of the house address to get access to drive on the roads leading up to my house. My dad ins't home. Its my mom and I and her friends. I have an unsettling feeling in my stomach as we drive down there. How can a day so beautiful come after so much heartache. I tried to prepare my mom. I told her there is nothing. McFarland was shut down. However, we had the ticket to get onto it to go see the house. My mom and her friends all started to cry. She kept repeating you guys were right in and yet your house is one of the very few still standing. Lauren and I had our wonderful friends who helped us get our belongings out of that house. My car is totalled yet it started. I was able to take for one last drive.
I'm slowly starting to sleep and eat again. I can't imagine how the people feel who lost everything. I cried every time I heard one of my friends was okay. I cannot thank everyone in tuscaloosa enough who have worked relentless hours to help everyone out. The mayor has been doing a fabulous job. Going through something like this really does change your outlook on life. I'm happy to be alive. I will never take another moment for granted. I plan to go back any day now to help those who did lose everything. I am so thankful for every person who got in touch with me to ask me if I was okay and offering their assistance if I needed it. I have some awesome friends and I am very grateful for them. Tuscaloosa will rebuild. However, it won't be the same now all we can do is move forward which everyone has. We both know that we were very lucky. Why a tornado takes one house and leaves one still standing I don't know. However, I now have a fear of severe weather that I never have before. I will respect the polygon and be in a safe place whenever those sirens go off.
I wanted to thank everyone again for all the support. It is a wonderful feeling seeing all these volunteers helping everyone out. Please continue to keep all those who were victims of this storm in your prayers.