Where to begin… I feel as if I have been VERY neglectful about staying in touch with my clients, friends & accquaintences… BUT I do have a VERY good reason…
Raleigh Tornado
37 days ago our home was badly damaged by one of the tornados which hit the Triangle (Raleigh/Durham area) – in the overall scheme of things we had serious damage to the home we live in, and the land surrounding it… but there were other families all over the Triangle & Johnston County that were left worse off than us.
That’s our house in the background… the trees surrounding our house are upwards of 60 years old, if not more… they were HUGE thick trees that snapped like little twigs during the storm.
INCLUDE SLIDESHOW HERE
It took me till sometime last week to get the ability to actually begin to write this experience out, before that I had some writer’s block; I honestly think that was from my mind not wanting to revisit the actual tornado occurence in order for me to describe it properly.
Nonetheless, the first REAL storm we had after the tornado was going to put me emotionally back in that moment whether I wanted it to, or not. I could hear the storm in the distance – it was a cooler day so all of our windows were open & I was looking forward to the smell of rain. Suddenly, I began to get uneasy, watching the sky turn dark black, then it happened… one really large CRACK of lightning followed by thunder. Instantly I was transported back to the moment I heard the tornado’s powerful noise barrelling towards us.
April 16th, 2011
It was a Saturday afternoon, about 2:30 pm we had just said goodbye to Kourtney’s friends who had spent the night to celebrate her 10th Harry Potter themed sleepover (complete with Quidditch!)
I gathered all the bikes, toys, Morgan’s princess quad & my real estate signs (which had marked party stations & the Quidditch field) and put them away in the garage. Keep in mind, I NEVER put that stuff away & I would have been content to simply leave the real estate signs staked in the yard. (Thank the Lord I didn’t).
Since I knew were expecting serious thunderstorms – I also stopped outside the garage and decided to bring the dogs in from the dog run that they normally spend their days within outside – I figured it would save me returning to them in a downpour.
As it began to spit large, round drops the girls and I went into the family room & I returned to other tasks while they watched The Disney Channel. Maybe 10 minutes later the house phone rang with a severe thunderstorm warning, (we signed up for these alerts with our local news channel – they go to myself & husband at our home and on our cell phones).
Here’s where it begins to get complicated, I was supposed to be leaving the house to pick up my mother & sister @ RDU within 30-40 minutes. They were flying in from PHX to spend Spring Break with us, and their arrival was a planned suprise for my daughters. The plan was to leave the girls’ with their grandmother who lives with us while I made that roundtrip to keep the suprise a secret. As the storm got worse, I realized if I left, and the power went out everyone at home (including Grandma Pat) would panic. It was about that time I spoke to my husband on my cell phone (which yes, still had service) and I told him that when my family called to say they had landed, I was planning to load the girls, ruin the suprise and take them to the airport.
Then the power went out as it always does during a decent rainstorm. We live in a really old farmhouse – part of which was built in Civil War era, and anytime we have a decent heavy rain the power will flicker and dissappear. Most times the phone line also goes out… so to follow the normal pattern of events shortly after that the phone died. Moments before though it rang, the recorded message told me that the severe thunderstorm had been upgraded to a tornado watch. OK, still no biggie… we had received that message before, no previous storm ever grew to be any worse.
SO – now I have no power, and no hard-wired phone… and I’ve made the decision and told Tom (via cell) that I will be taking the girls’ with me to the airport… especially since the tornado warning/watch message had just come thru to me. Once I hang up with him, what feels like moments later, my phone rings AGAIN – I’m beginning to worry now so I let the message roll to voicemail because I wanted to be able to replay it without background noise from the kids. (The phone rang at 3:27 pm according to the voicemail STILL saved on my phone)
Selling Homes in the Triangle one yard at a time! 