Raleigh's Tornado

As many of you know NC got hit by 3 tornadoes yesterday.  Before I begin my story, let me just say that I LOVE crazy storms.  My absolute favorite weather is heavy rain.  I know I'm weird, but it's the truth.  I can do thunderstorms.  Heck, I can do hurricanes.  But tornadoes freak the mess out of me because they're so unpredictable.  And unfortunately, one carved right through Raleigh yesterday.

Ben was working at a friend's house, redoing their ceilings.  He doesn't have a cell phone FYI.  I knew we were supposed to have bad weather so I kept up my laptop up and kept refreshing our news channel's webpage (we don't have TV).  I knew that there were a few tornadoes on the ground and  I was freaking out.  It was about 3:30 (naptime) when my mom called and told me that our news anchors had told the people in my area of Raleigh to take cover.  So I ran upstairs pulled Lily and Skyler out of their beds and came downstairs.  Our go-to spot is our pantry since it's the only room on the bottom floor that doesn't have an outer wall to our house.  Thank goodness it's huge.  I actually organized our food in case of a catastrophe.  Our canned goods are on the bottom so they won't kill us when they fall.  :)  I threw in a bunch of toys and a blanket to sit on.  I handed them cookies and they looked at me as if they had just gone to heaven.  I never let them in the pantry so apparently this was a treat.  Haha. 

So while the kids were eating and stacking cans for 45 minutes in the pantry the tornado came right by us.  It was about 2 or 3 miles away from us but it was BIG.  Here are some pictures of a neighborhood not too far from us:



Ben and I actually considered buying a house in this area and the tornado would have hit us head on.  I'm so grateful that we had impressions that it was the wrong area for us.  Although I'm sure it was for reasons other than this tornado. 

So while the kids were having a ball in the pantry I was freaking out.  People who know me well know that I'm a worrier.  If I hear a noise in the night I know someone's coming to kill me.  And yet I'm still alive.... hmmmm.... maybe I should lighten up a bit.  But I knew I had reason to worry yesterday.  Ben wasn't home and I was frantically calling our friend's house over and over and over for an hour trying to make sure that they were OK.  But the phone kept ringing and nobody ever picked up.  I was freaking out to the point where I was shaking, but I knew I had to hold it together for Lily and Skyler because if I freak out, they'll freak out. 

After all that time in the pantry, I finally got word that the tornado was past us and we were safe.  I kept calling to get a hold of Ben.  No answer.  Then I managed to get cell phone numbers and after a while I reached them and everyone was OK.  They had lost power so their phones weren't working.

I am just so grateful for my family and that we have all been safe.  It is such a blessing to have been spared from something so destructive, when many other people were killed.  Hopefully this tornado will be the only one for the next decade or so.  Right?  RIGHT?!

If you're interested in a short 26 second clip of the tornado that hit us go HERE.