I'm definitely way too far behind on my blogging to ever go back and remember everything. My family and I had a great Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter and Mother's Day. What I really want to do though is recap everything from the past two weeks. It has been a VERY busy time in our lives.
I am so blessed to have all my family and extended family alive today! On April 27, we had severe weather all thoughout the state of Alabama. I think there were 22 tornados in Northern Alabama alone! There were 4 separate bouts of severe weather that came to the Bryant/Higdon area. It all started about 7:30 in the morning. I got a call from Bryson that there was some really bad weather heading our way and I might want to think about going to Donna and Darrell's house (we have no basement, so we head over to our friends house when the weather gets bad. Thank you Kirk's!) I really just wanted to sleep late that morning because Kade had been up, as usual, several times during the night. I did get up and start watching the news and ultimately decided to head to D and D's though.
That first bout turned out to be nothing serious for Bryant, but my dad called saying they had some pretty significant wind damage around the house. Huge trees were down all over the place, some tin blew off the roof, and the window next to my mom's bed had blown in. I thought, "wow, I'm going to go down and take some pictures of this." Sure enough I headed that way a little later and found that all the big trees in the front yard were blown down as well as my favorite very unique looking maple tree in the horse pasture. I hated to see that one gone for sure. Anyhow, I stayed for a couple hours and decided if I was going to leave I needed to because more storms were supposed to hit between 2 and 3.
I left and headed toward Bryant. On my way I got to thinking about the fact that everyone had went to work or school and D and D's would probably be empty. I had pretty much decided I'd turn around and go back to the Whetzell's house since they had a basement, and generator (the electricity was out from the earlier storm), when Chris called to tell me he was heading to the Kirks. I then decided I'd go ahead and get to Bryant since someone else would be there and that was the quickest place for Bryson to get to in case he got to come home early from work.
As I was coming into Bryant I noticed that vast difference in the sky in front of me to what was behind me. I saw what had to be the 'wall cloud' of the storm approaching. It was wicked looking and I wished I had time to stop and take a picture, but right about then the hail started hitting the car. I was like, "uh oh, better hurry and get to the shelter!" I was only 2 minutes away from the Kirk's but it was too late to escape some major hail. It was incredibly loud as it hit the car. I was certain it would break the windsheild. It was raining so hard I was creeping along trying to find the right road to turn on because I couldn't see more than about 10 feet ahead of me. I did find the right road to turn on and as I pulled up to the Kirk's Darrell and Chris helped me get the babies in and we went to the basement. That particular wave of storms was basically over a few minutes later. I was fortunate to escape with only some minor hail damage to the car. My babies and I were just fine. It really scared me though!
I was hoping Bryson would be able to come home soon. I didn't like that there were yet more storms coming and he was all the way in Chattanooga. Bryson was soon headed home though, so that made me feel better. Not long after he arrived, another round hit. It got really windy and a piece of wood with a nail in it fell into the yard out of no where. That let us know that there was probably a tornado somewhere even though it truly never got too bad right there in Bryant.
There were several people at the Kirk's by this time and we were just haning out and heading to the basement every now and then when the weather got bad. We were all out on the porch talking when my phone rang. It was Brandon. He said, "we are all alright, but a tornado just destroyed our house and I've got a gash on my arm that won't quit bleeding. Bella probably has a broken arm too, so me, mom, Bella, and Chris are heading to the hospital right now." I was stunned, but thought he must be lying becuase it hadn't even blown any trees or anything down in Bryant which is only about 11 miles from the Whetzell house. I told him I thought he was lying, and then heard mom very hysterically saying, "he's not lying, our house is gone!" I knew then it was true. Apparently Chris Bynum, the neighbor, was driving them to the hospital in a car with windows blown out from the tornado and dad was on the tractor trying to clear a path so they could actually get to the hospital!
Dad was still out clearing the roads when mom last saw him, but no one could get in touch with him once they were gone to the hospital. I wanted to go down there and find him and make him come to Bryant where we could get him in a basement since he had no house to even return to. So, Bryson, me, and Chris headed down there to look for him. We had to try several different routes because trees were down and they weren't letting people through in other areas. We were trying to get there as fast as we could because there were yet more storms coming. It was a hectic stressful time, but we finally made it to the house. What was left of the house I should say, to find dad was wasn't there. I was totally shocked at not only the fact that the house was essentially gone, but that the entire landscape had been transformed. It was truly unrecognizable! Nothing looked the same as it had 3 hours ago when I had last been there.
I was able to get ahold of my mom at the hospital and found out that dad was there. He had driven the tractor to a friend's house and borrowed their car. Brandon and Ashley both got stiches, but thankfully their injuries were minor. There had actually been 10 people in the house at the time that the tornado struck. My parents had 3 renter's in the basement and Brandon had 3 buddies over who'd been helping clear trees from the previous storm. Dad, mom, Brandon, Ashley, and Brandon's 3 buddies were trying to get into a storm shelter dad had built in the den. However, Dad, Ashley, and Brandon didn't actually make it into the shelter by the time the tornado was past. The only part of the house still standing was the part they were in.
In order for them to get to the shelter in the den they had to go outside and onto the back porch and come around to another door at the den to come back in. While they were coming back in the tornado was upon them. Everyone got inside except Ashely and Brandon's friend, Jeff. The pressure from the tornado slammed the door shut (which is how Ashely got one of her injuries to her arm since it was in the doorway). Brandon was trying to open the door from the inside and Jeff was trying to open it from the outside as well. There was debris flying all around them. The pressure was so great they had a lot of difficulty getting the door open, but they did and Jeff scooted in. As Ashley was coming in the tornado started to literally blow her away. Brandon grabbed her arm and was pulling her back in. He saved her life. She truly would've been sucked out if he hadn't grabbed her. We are all so thankful to God for having his hand on us! I could've very easily been at the Whetzell's house with my two babies. That would've been 3 more people trying to get into the storm shelter and as we know not everyone that was actually there even made it in! Thank you Lord for not letting me and my babies be there and for protecting all who were there.
Sadly, not everyone was so fortunate. Bradley was in Tuscaloosa where a massive tornado stuck as well. He was not injured, but 3 of his close friends were killed. I knew one of them, Morgan Sigler, very well. I had dated her brother for a year and a half before Bryson and I got together. Morgan was also a member at Ebenezer and went on numerous youth trips that I was on as well. She and her family are all great friends to me and I still can't believe she is really gone. It's so sad. I feel so terrible for her parents and brothers. She was such a spunky, carefree person. Her boyfriend, Blake Peak, and a friend Scott Atterton were also killed.
Again, I am so thankful to God for sparing my family and I. April 27th was a day filled with death and destruction. My parents house is gone, yes, but their lives were saved. Material things can easily be replaced, but lives cannot.
