Humbled By The Storm-On Foot In An F-3 Tornado

Pictures from 2/17/2008

Sunday, February 17, 2008, began as any other Sunday; early morning church, lunch with friends then settled in for a quiet Sunday around the house.  It was unseasonably warm; always a preclude to possible bad storms. Something we are accustomed to here in Alabama. We take it in stride.

I admit, I always have been complacent when it comes to bad weather. I respect it but have never feared it. A tornado is something you see on the nightly news that happens somewhere other than your neighborhood.  Never been one to pack up the family and animals and move to a safe place as tornado warning sirens wail.    I now understand why that demented ideology and lack of rationale can prevent you from seeing another day.

The weather had begun to get progressively worse on that quiet Sunday in February as tornado warning sirens began to sound.   I turned on the local TV station to check the weather report. I became cautiously alarmed when I saw the meteorologist refer to a bow echo on Doppler weather; indicating a possible tornado  not only in my town, but on a direct path to my neighborhood.  In fact, meteorologists were saying a tornado was imminent, and it should reach my area at 3:05 p.m.  My twin sister and brother-in-law now live down the street from me. I can see their house from my living room window, so I gave them a call to see if they had heard the same weather warning.   They had not. They were watching other programming and not the local weather.

Damage on my street

My house sits on a slight hill giving me a birds-eye view of portions of the neighborhood.  3:05 came and went.  It was now close to 3:10 and I thought to myself, the meteorologists had missed their mark and caused alarm for nothing.  About that time, I began to hear the wind whistle around the windows, something I've never heard in my house.  I got up to look out the window as the shrill sound had now turned into what sounded like a jet engine.  As I looked out toward the location of my sister's house and to my disbelief,  I saw a massive wall of debris and dust.  Immediately, I grabbed the phone to dial but the lines were already dead.  Adrenaline kicked in.  I remember shouting out loud "NO" as  I threw down the phone and ran out the door.  I know this was probably the worst possible reaction. Never, ever run into the path of a tornado. My response was similar to the fear or flight response.  It was an involuntary reaction/reflex to protect.  Knowing that in my earlier conversation with my sister that they were not watching the weather, my instinct was to get to them.  I have never felt so helpless.

More Damage in My Neighborhood

Before I knew it, I was out the door and down my steep driveway. I was running so fast, it felt as though my knees were hitting my chin.  Even though it took me a split second to make it to their house, it seemed like a lifetime.  By the time I made it to the street, the shrill  rumbling sound was deafening and debris had begun to fall.  Some people liken the sound of  a tornado to a freight train. For me, it sounds like a 767 Jet  revving its engine.  The roar had escalated to the point that it felt as if the ground was shaking.  It came to mind, I'm not going to make it to the house before being pelted by debris. There wasn't a drop of rain falling.  With the roar of the tornado, it took awhile for my sister to hear me as I beat on the door.  I made it in within a split second of the tornado; almost mowing down my sister in the process in an attempt to get us to the safety of an interior hallway. It lasted for just a few seconds as we lay on the floor in the hallway. There's nothing humorous about that day but my family can always find something that amuses us in any situation.  Upon my sister and me plopping ourselves on the floor of the hallway after running from the front door,  I asked " where is Joe"  (brother-in-law).  Turns out he was underneath our pile!

Snapshot of the 2008 Tornado as it bears down on my neighborhood

When the dust had settled, neighbors began pouring out of their homes to survey the damage.  It was surreal.  Everyone had a blank stare; in total shock.  It looked like the walk of the zombies. You could already smell the natural gas fumes permeating the air.  Luckily, my house and my sister's house had minimal damage, but as we looked up and down the street, we saw utter devastation. One house may  have been spared and then the one next door may have been demolished. There was a travel trailer sitting in the middle of one house.  Windows were sucked outward on the houses that remained standing.  The inside walls are all that remained on some with outside and outer walls gone on others.  We soon learned the devastation was wide spread. We  had been hit by an F3-F4 tornado in the Enhanced Fujita Scale. Damage was consistent with wind speeds of  at least 155 miles an hour and its path; 14.5 miles long and approximately 445 yards wide; massive.  It destroyed more than 45 homes and many businesses. It damaged over 300 homes.  Twenty-nine people were injured. Preliminary estimates put the damage at $85 million in insured and uninsured damages.  It is a miracle there were no fatalities.  

Just a few houses up the street from my house

That day will be forever embed in my mind.  Not only has it change my perspective of life, it has forever altered by my lackadaisical reaction to severe weather.  I now heed the warnings and go to my "safe place".

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