Weathering the Storm

I generally try to keep the text in my posts to a minimum because as a good friend told me "I only look at the pictures, I don't read the posts." I know that most people aren't as interested as we are and that is fine. This is one time, however, when I couldn't keep it short. After all, it was a once in a lifetime (I hope) kind of night!

Last night just before 5 o'clock, after I had just moved my blogging inside due to the approaching thunderstorms, Papa called to let us know that there was a tornado warning for our area. Yup, that's right, a tornado warning for southern Worcester County. During extreme thunderstorms, there are occasionally tornado watches and warnings but they rarely amount to much. Evan was just waking up from a nap and Bruce was just finishing up his work day, at home, thankfully! We turned on the news to see what was happening and began closing windows as the storm approached. The news channels were advising southern Worcester County residents to seek shelter in the lowest floor of their homes so we grabbed a few toys for Evan and headed to the basement.

We were able to keep the TV on and watch the storm, which at first was mostly just like a bad thunderstorm, out the window. When we knew we would be down there for a while, Bruce ran up to get some snacks (wine and cheese for us and dinner for Evan) and the phone (my mom had been trying to call and we weren't picking up). We stayed in the basement for a bit and then just when we were thinking we would head upstairs, they extended the warning until 8 pm so we stayed put for a while longer. We were watching the storm out the window and could see the wind carrying debris in one direction and then moments later in the other direction. All the while, the channel 7 meteorologist was saying that the storms were crossing route 146 between Sutton Road and Central Turnpike, about 2 miles south of our house!! It was crazy! I have never seen such torrential rain. While we were watching the storm, Evan kept saying "Wow! Wow!" Scary and amazing all at the same time.

Once the storm was over and we knew we were in the clear, we went outside to see what we could see. There was a river of rain running down our street and while most of the lawn and yard was untouched, there were random bits of leaves and debris scattered all over. We found a piece of red painted wood, two pieces of insulation, a plastic bag and someone's mail from Monson. That piece of paper traveled over thirty miles!

This morning I found a blog post written by someone who lives in Monson and posted a comment to see if I could find out any information about the woman whose mail was on our front lawn. Her nephew later posted another comment stating that her house was completely destroyed but that everyone was ok. My heart breaks for this woman and her family. It is crazy to watch the news and see the devastation so close to home. I plan to do something to help her...although I'm not sure yet what that something is.

Over the course of last evening, I also found out that a tornado went right down the street where my college roommate of four years lives. Thankfully, she and her house were mainly unaffected but there was much destruction outside and across the street from her. It will take many hours to clean up and return to "normal" but everyone (at least that we know personally) appears to be safe!

Situations like this really make you realize just what is important in life. I am so thankful that this happened on a Wednesday when Bruce was working from home so that he wasn't caught driving in such a terrible storm or stuck at work to wait it out while we were at home. I am thankful that we are all safe and sound today and can spend our time thinking of ways to help others rather than to have to rebuild our own home. In a time when we too often get caught up in the (often insignificant) happenings of our daily life, I hope that everyone takes a few minutes after reading this post to reflect on what is really important in life! I urge everyone who reads this post to reach out and help someone who was affected by these terrible (and thankfully rather infrequent) storms!