April 16, 2011 Tornado

As I've moved through the last 30 hours I have so many mixed emotions. I know many of you are wondering what happened. I know this because you've called, texted, emailed and messaged through various ways in Facebook. To say we're grateful for your messages, thoughts and prayers would be an understatement. Just a few minutes ago the Weather Channel panned over our house. It's a surreal moment to see your house and all of your neighbors homes displayed on the news.

In order to try to keep folks updated on what's happening I thought I'd use the blog for the next week or so to let you know what's happening. We've been trying to call folks as able but even with our best intentions we haven't been able to reach everyone. I promise it's not because we haven't wanted to call... It's just been a little busy.

So what happened?
Yesterday (4/16) Stephen, Katherine, my sister Nicole and I went to a Roller Derby in Dorton Arena in downtown Raleigh. My sister told us about it and it seemed like a fun time so we thought we'd go see one. As we arrived and got our beverages and popcorn the announcements started. The MC indicated that they were not going to use the siren to start the Derby this time around. They said they were going to reserve the siren for an emergency warning as there were multiple reports of tornados in the area. This isn't uncommon this time of year but generally tornado watches (in our previous experience) didn't exceed the watch level.

About 5 minutes into the Derby the siren went off. We followed our instruction to evacuate to the basement of the arena. For those not from the Raleigh area, Dorton Arena is an all glass domed arena. Had the tornado actually come through there I couldn't imagine the glass that would have gone flying everywhere. Truly. That said, we were in quite possibly one of the safest "safe places" in Raleigh. A basement of brick and concrete. Pretty good as far as secure that the building wouldn't blow away.

About 15 minutes into being in the basement a man came through to and was yelling to sit on the floor, turn around and face the wall and lower our heads. I'll remind you we were with a two (almost three) year old. The only reason I remember it was a man coming through (I'll be honest) is because Katherine kept asking why that man told us to put our heads down? My sister and I tried to make it a game to look at Katherine's shoes... We drew on some paper with some crayons and practiced our letters... We did this as it was at least 15 minutes we were in this position. I can't believe how incredibly patient and strong our daughter is.

After we were told we could leave the basement we went upstairs. As we were walking upstairs Stephen's cell phone rang. It was ADT indicating that our heat sensor (that detects fire through our alarm) was going off. Initially we were chalking it up to having had some work done to our alarm the previous day and thinking maybe the wind did something to make the alarm go off accidentally... but we weren't home. ADT asked if we wanted the fire department to be called. Ah, yes. thanks. At this point K indicated she needed to go potty so we headed off to the bathroom while deciding whether to high tail it home or not. When we returned from the bathroom Stephen said that ADT had called back and said the lines were all busy and they couldn't get through to 911. We should head home and continue to try to call. Ah. Bad.

So off we went. Never in this discussion did it enter my mind that a tornado came to our neighborhood. Not once. I don't know why. I kept thinking electrical short in the house and maybe the house was on fire but having the tornado come through our neighborhood or street... Didn't consider it. As we drove home we saw some downed limbs, branches, etc. Stuff you'd see after a normal high wind, rain, hail storm. As we turned down the street heading to our neighborhood we noticed that the roof of the small car dealership on the corner had been taken off. OFF. Okay. Small panic. Kept driving and large chunks of the fence along the outside of our neighborhood facing the road was missing. Panic increasing. Heading down our street... damage and started to increase in panic level. As we approached the pool on our street and got to our corner full panic set in. I mean, almost wet your pants and tears streaming holy "S" moment.

We asked Nicole to stay with Katherine until we could scope out our house. We didn't know if we still had one. As we walked down our block the devastation was, well, devastating. My heart stopped I think. This might sound dramatic but it's truly a moment I won't forget in my life. Ever. Seeing your neighbors homes fully exposed with roofs off. Walls totally open. Pieces of homes laying everywhere. Rain still coming down. As we continued down our block we kept looking for the top of our house. It was there. We couldn't see the front and all the while I'm crying and saying ohmygodohmygodohmygod. My amazing husband held me, walked together and continued to reassure me that regardless, we'd be okay. We were safe.

We got to the front of our house and saw that our home was still standing. Given the unbelievable nature of what was around us, this alone, was a miracle. MIRACLE. We'd forgotten the keys to the house back in the car so Stephen started to head back to the car as I continued down the street to our neighbors who I could see had no home. It was flattened. We all started to account for one another. I don't know exactly how long before the storm had gone through but I'm estimating maybe 15 minutes. I think the alarm went off as the beginning of the storm came. There was no power, etc. by the time the tornado came through.

As I walked around our house I saw that again, the backyard and back of the house had damage, but nothing compared to what our neighbors experienced. As I was circling back around the house a friend and co-worker came around the backyard with her son. That hug... It felt good to know she and her family were okay and that we were okay. She and her family stayed with us for the next 4+ hours helping us do what we could to immediately tend to the issues of the house. We finally got inside and saw that we had 3 windows that blew out. Given we have about 25+ windows in the house... This was pretty amazing. Our living room / playroom; dining room and our bedroom were the rooms that sustained window damage. With the help of our friend and her family we were able to clean up the glass in the downstairs rooms. We didn't do much of anything with our bedroom because the volume of glass was too much to absorb for me. It was a room I was avoiding.

Lots of things happened I know during this time. We talked to neighbors, cried, hugged, tried to laugh at some things (saying our HOA was going to come through today and issue warnings that we all needed to power wash our houses)... At 9pm I thought it was still 6:00 so truly time was lost on me. At some point, Stephen and our friends husband went to a home improvement store to get some supplies to secure the windows and ensure that no other debris could fly in nor could anyone looking to maximize on the devastation. Or at least if they tried they'd get pretty seriously injured. (We didn't remove the jagged glass from the windows.) I'd asked a Sheriff whether someone would be in our neighborhood to ensure we didn't get any looters and he indicated that we were one of many neighborhoods that sustained damage... He had no idea. Fortunately one very kind officer stayed and kept watch. He traveled up and down our block all night.

Another family of friends came over during this time and helped us tape up the windows, play with Katherine and just do "stuff". I really don't remember everything now as I look back. The hours flew by and yet time stood still. We called family members and asked them to post something to let folks know we were okay and to call the other family members that needed calling. (And yes, I will give KUDOS to my sister's Verizon coverage. It remained available throughout the whole ordeal. AT&T... Sporadic at best.)

I've never experienced the support, kindness and downright love that I have in the last 30 hours. Friends just came. We didn't ask. They were just there. They came within hours to help do whatever they could to help us. I don't think they expected to see what they did... Neither did we expect to be in the situation we are. Friends came today to bring us food, play with Katherine and just help. The volume of volunteers on our block was incredible. HUNDREDS of people came today. They came with food, water, muscle and hugs. I cried a lot today. Out of extreme gratitude. For the first couple of hours we were home, we declined all offers of help. For me, and I still struggle with this, I looked around me and thought I'm the LEAST of the worries of this street. Please go help the others that lost much much more. Stephen called this "survivors guilt". I'll admit I look and am in awe of being spared what everyone around me was not. When I tell you our side of the block was devastated, it's truly not an understatement. Houses collapsed. Complete sides of houses ripped off. Roofs missing. Cars destroyed. I don't know how or why we were as lucky as we were. I'm so thankful to God, our many Angels in heaven and our AMAZING friends and volunteers.

I'll share some of the more specific stories in another blog but special thanks to these people:
Nicole - THANK YOU for being the rock you were during our underground time and as we arrived home, taking care of Katherine... We're sorry about your car. I hope you get power back soon.

Miller Family - John, thank you for *thinking* for Stephen. Thank you for helping us secure the windows. MM, J & L, THANK YOU for helping us clean up the inside of the house and get it ready for taping. M, thank you for finding us food. I know it took some hunting!!! We can't thank you enough. You were our first on-site help. You never cease to amaze me.

Krieman Family - Thank you for coming to help. Thank you for playing with Katherine. Thank you for calling people you know that know what happens in these situations, to help get us advice. Thank you for opening your home to us. Thank you for being the supportive amazing friends that you are. Even down to the littlest one your kindness and warmth was so appreciated and comforting.

Vanderbilts - When the Vanderbilts come work gets DONE!! I needed your kick in the pants today. When you heard I'd been avoiding our bedroom you jumped on it and we got it "checked off the list"! Frank and M.... You rock. My house is feeling more and more like my home again. Thank you for helping us clean up our yard. Who knew M's first raking experience would be post tornado in our yard. And you brought us some of our favorite foods, drinks, etc. You know how to comfort us!!!

Marie: Thank you for contacting your uncle for us and for offering to help us get a place to stay. Your help and your uncles advice were greatly appreciated.

Kristen & Adam: You came by and not only offered your support but you also gave a little girl a fun afternoon. She was pretty excited about her "bird" and the smoothie. Thank you for taking her out and getting her away from the craziness for a little bit. She had a blast!! We're very appreciative.

We love you all and can't tell you how much we appreciate all you've done to help us. If I missed anyone I promise it's not intentional. Every single bit of help we've received has been appreciated.

So many others called, texted and messaged offering help, support, love and prayers. Thank you. From the bottom of our hearts. We appreciate it more than you can imagine.

We'll keep you updated as the week goes on. xoxo ~ Darlene, Stephen & Katherine