Home Sweet Home

What a weekend! Friday saw a vicious line of storms sweep through the state. As we drove south to visit "Gamma Dib" we found ourselves driving straight into it. The radio made us believe that we might miss it, but the sky turned from dark blue to a strange green color I can't begin to describe. We were only a few miles from Aunt Lori's and called to see if she was home yet. She informed us that she was just leaving work and that the wind had turned strange and that none of the radio stations located in town were coming in.

Just moments after hanging up, the first piece of hail struck our windshield, at that time only a week old, cracking it a few inches. My phone sent a text from Lori saying "Sirens!" and we turned onto the first gravel road we could find and stopped at a farmhouse. Three dogs outside, but no one home. We briefly debated driving into one of the sheds on the property or trying to drive to another house. I won't lie, we were terrified! We opted for the latter, and as we approached the next house, noticed that the lights were flickering on and off before the went completely out.

Brian ran up to the door and a young girl, Courtney, all of about 16, invited us inside. She suggested we move our vehicle under a nearby tree to keep it out of the hail, but we were only interested in getting the girls inside. The electricity had gone out and so we blindly followed her into the basement where she quickly cleared a spot out for us and a cute couple of baby kittens to hide in a small room beneath the stairs. All the while, you could hear the winds (up to 93 mph) whistling through the walls (though there were no nearby windows). The sky was black and we waited in the dark with a pair of near dead flashlights and the light of a cell phone.

Eventually, things cleared and we made our way upstairs to take in the destruction. A tree had been uprooted and was leaning on the house; the tree we were supposed to park under had come down and was blocking the driveway. Courtney's mother and brother soon arrived (they were forced to take shelter at a nearby home because it became to unsafe to continue) and informed us that a tree had fallen across the bridge we had crossed to get there and we were forced to take an alternate route out. When we left, we had to drive through the neighbors lawn and another tree was blocking that side of the road. The electricity had still not come back on as there were lines down all throughout the countryside. We were so blessed and so lucky to have found shelter at the Werpy home! Thank you so much!

We made it to Auntie Lori's and surveyed the damage at their home, which thankfully was fairly minimal, and throughout Marshall which was quite extensive in some areas. However, it wasn't until you got outside city limits that you really saw the destruction. An overturned Semi, homes missing roofs and walls and farm equipment in the fields and ditches. I have not been so scared in a long time, but it reminds me to stay thankful of every cute, cuddly, frustrating minute!