Tornadoes

My Dad & stepmom's house was hit by a massive, pissed off tornado. It smashed the whole front of the house and ripped six HUGE 100+ year old Oak trees out of the ground and tossed them around like tiny sticks. One of them had the powerlines wrapped around it numerous times like the tornado picked up the tree, spun the power lines around it like a spindle, and then tossed it on the other side of the yard. VERY scary stuff.

This happened Monday night. Dad texted me that he was okay but the house was not. They couldn't see outside to know how bad the damage was. Tuesday morning my husband, cousin, brother, and I took off work and we all met at my Dad's house. When we pulled up, you couldn't see the house at all. We had to climb over these huge trees by hugging them and rolling over. Several minutes later, we got to the house, or what used to be the house, and I was just speechless for about 10 minutes. Wide-eyed and in shock, I just soaked in the surroundings. Then I just broke down and started bawling. I was so thankful my Dad was okay. They had been in the closet for less than 5 minutes when it hit and the trees JUST missed them. God was watching over them, for sure.

Joe and my cousin ran the chainsaws and cut up these huge trees while my brother and I pulled these massive limbs off to the side. We made a path for my Dad and stepmom to get out. Their cars had been blocked in. So we made a path and then had my Dad drive his car out to the road since the driveway was gone (cement totally ripped up and GONE), and the yard was so soggy when you took a step, your foot sunk in about 6 inches.

While Arkansas was not nearly as bad as Alabama, there was still a LOT of damage. I think we are going to research having an underground shelter put in.