Monday, June 16, 2008

But I'm a South Texas Girl!

Last night was the first meeting of our much anticipated bible study, Love and Respect. I was really looking forward to it, so about 15 till 8:00 I headed over to Tara's. I noticed as I drove there were lots of people standing outside their houses looking to the Northwest. I looked back and saw a huge wall cloud, but I had seen several similar ones before that never panned out to anything important so I really thought little of it. I made my way to Tara's and we had our little informational. Then it started to rain. Two of the girls decided to try to leave before it started hailing. Too late. The sky grew darker and the hail grew bigger. By the time it reached it's peak, the hail was tennis ball sized and we were in the hallway. Yes, folks, C-town was hit by a tornado yesterday while I was at bible study. I kept saying, "But I'm a South Texas girl, I don't know about tornadoes and I don't like them." The windows in the front of Tara's house started breaking and my heart started racing and we all started praying...in the hallway. More nervous laughter.

Here are some pictures of the damage at our house. Our bedroom window was broken and hail and water got into the room and in the corner of the carpet. Our fence is destroyed, and I lost pretty much all of my plants. We have one tree gone, and lots of branches broken. Dead birds and squirrels everywhere, but the worst are the ones that are just hurt and can't fly. Maggie came up while I was outside with a dead squirrel in her mouth...OMG it was SO GROSS!!! Our sky lights on the porch are broken and the paint has been scraped off of the house in places. Our roof will need to be replaced and we had no power until about 3:00 this afternoon. And in spite of all of this, we are just SO VERY THANKFUL no one is hurt seriously and that everything that happened is covered by insurance and very fixable. Praise, praise, praise!

Here are two links to some pictures from the storm. They are very cool, but I wouldn't be caught dead outside at this point in its progression!

News Channel 10
Times Record News

Enjoy, and if you are in the area in the next two days I've got a job (or five) for you!

The broken window in our bedroom :( after Richard boarded it up from outside.



My poor, poor aloe vera plants were beat up! I think they will bounce back, which is more than I can say for most of my other plants...what a bummer!

In the backyard...this is looking into our West neighbor's yard...privacy is no longer an option in our neighborhood! That's our tree limb broken.

One of the two skylights that both were broken out! I LOVE those skylights...but insurance is a God-send!

Looking into our East neighbors' yards. The neighbors just next to us were out of town, so we helped board up their broken window last night, too.

These pics are out of order, but this is the cloud McH saw while I was at bible study and he was home. It is HUGE, isn't it? Scary but very cool looking!

Aw, hail! Yep, I'm sure that was said many times last night among other things. Can you believe this was yesterday evening? It looks like the dead of winter! That is ALL hail (and rain, too)! Unreal, I tell you! It ranged in size from tennis ball to marble and did SO MUCH damage around town!

There's talk that we could have another similar storm tonight. Ugh. Pray that it misses us but that we get some rain...can I be that picky? I think God understands.

14 comments:

  1. oh my GOOD GOSH woman! i am soooooo glad you guys were not injured! holy COW! i'm so sorry you had to go through that! hope the repairs are quick and painless--yes, thank GOD for insurance! (we know that first hand!) ha...much love! good to hear from you!! prayers always...

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  2. Yikes! You and MLJ are Dorothy and Toto from Wizard of Oz! :) I'm so glad that everything is fixable and that no one was seriously hurt! Whoa! The South Texas Girl that Survives a Tornado...I can just see the headlines or maybe a book title!

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  3. Hey .... I am sorry to hear that y'all got damage...we have about the same..except we think that we our roof was actually lifted...so who knows....we lost every window...and my room was totally destroyed....oh well...I wanted new flooring...new windows....furniture....thank goodness for insurance...take care and let me know if you need anything...steph

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  4. so fun isn't it!! the damage around town is awful... but we are all so lucky! we got out with very little damage... we got it the last time, ugh! anyway let me know if i can help! sounds like we are going to get to do a lot of decorating!! fun!

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  5. I guess you just found out that storms don't know you are from South Texas. I called and left a message on your cell phone and called your Mom this afternoon. I had an idea that if anything had happened to you all, I would have gotten a call from your Mom to go check on you. So, I figured you were okay. Good work though, hallways and prayer!

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  6. don't you just hate west texas!!!
    yeah me tooo!
    so glad you are okay and i would NEVER say i told you so. Honestly!!!
    Scared me tooo and i am a west texas girl!!

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  7. Storms in Texas seem worse because most homes don't have basements... and fewer have cellars. Growing up in Kanas we had tornados on a regular basis with a place to hide. I understand your fear. I'm glad to read you are physically OK. Donna was worried about you. Be safe. I'm hoping you didn't have more servere weather last night.

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  8. What??? I had NO IDEA until right now. I'm so glad to hear all humans/dogs are safe. I would love to come help, but I am not handy and school is still not out. :(

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  9. WOW! You have been so busy! Glad that you are safe! If I were a little closer I would be there helping out!

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  10. Oh my GOODNESS! I so sorry you went through that and your house is damaged! I thank God that you are ok and LOVE your positive attitude about the whole situation. That has to be hard...but your faith and trust is awesome. How was the weather yesterday and today? Clear so far? We will be praying for you as you repair your home.

    Love your new page and signature...so fun!

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  11. my goodness, I had no idea. We had big ugly clouds but no hail, and thankfully, no twisty-tailed wind. So thankful you are safe! Windows and roofs are replacable.

    I will miss the gathering also. Kids going in too many directions this evening.

    Next time, I hope.

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  12. I'm so glad you and McH are ok!! It took me until yesterday to quit shaking!! And normally I love to watch storms, but not this one. If you need anything let me know.

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  13. Char, how SCARY! Glad everyone is ok! I have enjoyed catching up on your last few posts... a fun trip with your mom all to yourself?! How fabulous! And I am so glad you enjoyed the Walk so much - sounds like it came at just the right time! Miss you and hope to see you soon -

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  14. I was so sorry that I missed the bible study Sunday, but in retrospect I think it was a blessing. My boys would have been so upset if I wouldn't have been here with them. What a scary night! I hope you and Richard are okay. I miss you. I want to hear all about your trips! I'll be out of town for a while, but maybe when I get back we can get together! Love ya girl1

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