I feel really blessed. I feel humble. I feel grateful. The only thing that really scared me was loosing my family, my children and husband, that is what matters most.
It's 5:30am Wednesday October 5th. I heard it rain most of the night as it had the last two days off and on. I love rainy nights, I love thunderstorms, I always have. My kids and I like to sit in the garage in our lawn chairs and watch the thunderstorms and play in the rain during the monsoon season. The rain relaxes me, helps me unwind, not anymore.
It started hailing, it woke me up, it hailed harder and then harder, it sounded like golf balls hitting my house and then it got even harder, like rocks or bolders and lounder and then I heard crashing and it sounded like someithing or things hitting our house, not just on the roof but on the sides of the house as well, I heard my children screaming in terror. I ran to them, I saw the boys window was boken when the lightening flashed, I felt the wind coming through, I say Spencer first crying and screaming, I told him to come to me and get in my bed, the other kids were screaming and crying too. I took Spencer and handed him to Dave, or was is Sissy my friend who was staying with us, I don't know. I didn't see Gavin, but could hear him. The lightening flashed and I say him get out of his tent that he sleeps in everynight. He was scared to walk there was glass everywhere, I picked him up and held him really close, my girls were still screaming and crying, I went into their room trying to explain it was a golf ball size hail storm, it felt like I was yelling, "Get in my bed, get in my bed!" We could only see when the lightening flashed. Dave had a flashlight, the girls ran into my bedroom and up into my bed, Sissy was there with my kids, I don't know what we would have done without her. I went to the garage to get a flashlight, I still had Gavin, I couldn't see, lightening flashed and I saw our garage door was mangled. I went in the house, "We lost all our trees!" Dave had checked on the neighbors, "The Haggens are coming over" I found a candle and lit it in my bedroom so the kids could see.Sissy was there with my kids, I went outside to help get the Haggen's kids, lightening flashed and I say their house, it looked like a tornado blew threw their house, all the window were broken, the garage door gone, my neighbors car had been picked up and moved, all the windows broken, it was trashed. Back into the house there was glass everywhere, our sliding glass door had broke in our dining area, somehow I had shoes on.
There were seven kids in my bed, Gaving still in my arms. I fixed our neighbors bleeding arm in my master bathroom.
Somehow the worst of it was over in less than a minute. It all happened so fast like a fast train passing by.
The neighbors left our house for an even safer neighbor down the street. I got my kid rubber boots on. Evenually I was able to walk into the rainy street and servey the damage of the neighborhood. Every house was damaged, especially the houses on the opposite side of our street. I look down to the end of the street, the roof were gone on two houses, there were people everywhere checking on eachother trying figure out what happening. I heard it was a tornado and couldn't believe it, but I have to. I have told my kids over and over that we don't get tornados in Flagstaff and now I know I was wrong.
I am so grateful that no one died or was seriously injured. God is watching over us. Eveyone of us walked through glass to get to each other and make it into my bedroom. My boys room was cover in glass so much that is has to be gutted, scrubbed and repainted. We lost eveything in the boys room, it all has to go because of the chards of glass that were everywhere. There was so much glass in my boys beds and they don't have a scratch on them. Like I said God is watching over us, not just my family, but all my neighbors as well. There are so many families with similar stories, and so many people that walked away unscratched. My house could go up in flames tomorrow and I wouldn't care as long as I have my family, that is really how I feel. The only thing that scared me especially when windows were breaking was that my family was ok. My broken house doesn't bother me so much at all. More later.....My husband has been absolutely amazing!....and thanks to all those who rushed to HomeDepo and bought ply-wood and boarded up everyones broken windows, thanks to everywho came to help and offered.
P.S. If you don't have Met Life, they have been awesome.
