The Night of April 25, 2011…

It’s been almost a year since that night, I’ve realized here lately that I never shared what happened on my blog. Seems odd that I didn’t, I usually share all major events on here. Perhaps I didn’t share because things were so crazy afterwards, perhaps time simply got away from me and I became busy with other things, or perhaps I just couldn’t stand to think about it long enough to put thoughts/feelings into words. I still have nightmares of that night, I’ve actually had several nightmares here lately. I’m especially on edge today because what NOAA is saying about tonight’s storms is quite similar to what they were saying the day the tornado hit. 

Last year on April 25th we were expecting severe weather. I had the diaper bag, my purse and a small bag already in the hall, I had my flashlight ready along with tons of pillows to help protect us. My phone was charged and the TV was being flipped back and forth between my two favorite news stations. It was just after dinner when all the storms starting rolling into our area. I remember the weather man cutting to an image of a storm forming out in West Little Rock, it definitely looked like trouble and it was heading our way. At the time we lived on base, hubby kept going out the door to watch the weather with another one of the guys from the maintenance department. I watched as the weather man reported a tornado ripping through the town of Vilonia which is just above the base, basically taking out the entire town. I watched as devastating images were shown and live calls were aired of speaking with local policemen on scene. The last I remember before the tornado hit base was the weather man reporting once again on the storm that was morning towards us, it was then in North Little Rock. I remember the channel cutting back to reports of the damage in Vilonia. I was holding Abby and walked to the door to try and find hubby. I remember the wind blowing and suddenly seeing all the neighbors (all the men were outside watching the storm…typical men) running to their house and suddenly hubby was running towards me, shoving me and telling me to just go. I made it to the end of the hallway, our storm spot (yes I know a bathroom is better but with the way our house was set up, the hallway was better), when the lights went out. I remember calling my mom and asking her what was going on, she kept telling me that it was going above us…I remember yelling that it wasn’t going above us, it was ON US! I sat down with Abby, trying to keep her calm, gathering the pillows and blankets up and got ready. Hubby waited a few and went back to the door to see what was happening (again…typical man has to see everything). He left the front door open and I remember the wind was so fierce, it was making all the other doors rattle (all to the hallway were closed). Within minutes it was over, it was pitch black and I had no idea what had happened. I got a text from a friend saying that all the trees on her street were down so I told hubby. Since he was housing maintenance he decided to head out with the other maintenance guy to check out the damage. It was probably 30minutes later he came back…he just had this look on his face…he said it was bad, really bad. He changed into uniform so he could help. While maintenance was being called in to help, only military personnel were being allowed in some areas to help. Hubby wanted to be helpful so he changed and went back out. I got Abby settled into bed and pulled out all my candles, I knew we were in for a long night. At some point someone came by the house to check on us, they were walking around to knocking on doors to make sure everyone was okay. The tornado hit around 8pm…it was around 2am when hubby made it home…

With morning came light, which brought with it the reality of the destruction the tornado left behind. While many of us knew it was bad, seeing it in daylight was heartbreaking. Houses gone, cars upside down, trees completely uprooted. Instead of a normal day for housing maintenance of doing typical maintenance calls, they all spent the day with chainsaws, moving debris and picking up the mess. Abby and I went out to help deliver lunch to everyone working to clean up the storm damage. I helped drive while one of the housing ladies handed out pizza. I got to see first hand the devastating damage. I have friends who lost everything, houses completely destroyed, everything lost but thankfully everyone was okay. I remember attending meetings, how they called it Miracle Monday because although so much was lost, no lives were lost. The tornado pretty much only went through the housing area and close to the commissary, it also took out half of the high school that sits just outside the base. Within about a week you really couldn’t tell anything happened…until you drove to the housing area. The storm showed just how a tornado can do damage, how it can leave the roof on one side of a two story house duplex but completely take off the other side.

I’ve always heard stories and watched stories on the news, never had I seen it first hand before now. Slowly power was restores, everyone was moved to a new house and slowly life returned to normal.

Out of the devastation of the storm, what was uplifting to me was seeing everyone come together as a community. Everyone was helping, after the storm everyone was helping to make sure others were okay and safe, they helped pull families who were trapped out of houses, then the next day the streets were flooded with people trying to help others salvage what they could, helping those displaced load up what could be saved and move it to storage, everyone was helping to move debris and it was truly wonderful to see everyone helping so much.

It’s been a year almost…aside for a few houses still needing repair you wouldn’t really know a storm came through. Those that are new to the base hear the stories from those that lived it. Those of us that were there that night get nervous every time severe storms with possible tornadoes is predicted for our area.

Many of you noticed I disappeared from my blog for a little while last Spring, some of you even contacted me through email to make sure things were okay. Now you all know where I went. You are probably wondering why I’m sharing this now, I guess the main reason is because I’m so nervous about the impending severe weather tonight that I needed an outlet. I needed to cry and let myself face things again for a few moments. To write things out is often helpful for me.  

One thing I do encourage, if you have severe weather in your area don’t wait until the last minute to prepare. Get things ready ahead of time…storms are unpredictable and can be upon you in the matter of seconds. Take a moment to plan your storm area, where will you go in your house to be safe from the storm. Have pillows and blankets in that area to help protect you. Since I have a little once I always make sure to stock her diaper bag with diapers, wipes, snacks, an extra sippy cup, bottle of water, medicine and anything else she might need. Add some favorite toys to the pile, these help distract little ones and help keep them happy. Also grab those favorite items your little one is highly attached to, if something were to happen you don’t want them going without their special blankie or lovie. I have my lockbox of important documents that I always make sure to grab, of course I grab my purse and I always stick my huge pile of thumb drives in my purse (I always back up my pictures!). Make sure your flashlight has good batteries, make sure your phone is charged, I recommend getting a NOAA weather radio to help keep you updated. Sure, the internet and news stations are great but once power is out you are left in the dark when it comes to updates as to what the weather is doing. 

Spring is right around the corner which means it’s storm season for us. It’s only January but I guess we are getting an early start this year 🙁 I’m going to gather up a few things and just keep my fingers crossed that the worst of the storms stay away from us tonight.