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Last week the National Weather Service issued 29 tornado warnings in my county (Madison/Huntsville, Alabama) and 92 for North Alabama. But Wednesday, April 27 was the crazy day that 21 hit the state, 100 tornados hit the southern US, killing 356 and destroying so many homes.
An EF5 with max winds at 205 MPH was just a few miles northwest from my house and within blocks of a few friends houses. Another EF1 tornado was just to the southwest of us. Power was knocked out to the major transmission lines and caused huge problems leading to power being out for 5 days for us and most of north Alabama. I feel lucky that we only had minor damage (fence and siding, maybe some roof shingles) and that I don’t have any close friends with huge damage. Though a mom I know through daycare lost her house, but the family is ok.
Here is a map of the tornado paths (click for larger version w/text description):
After the power went out Wednesday and was not on Thursday we were hearing reports that it could be one week to 10 days before it was restored. (And here I'll say thanks for Verizon for pretty good cell coverage on our smart phones) Jeff had plans to go to his parents house in Mississippi to attends a friends wedding and have a guys weekend, but I decided Allison and I would crash it :) If I had an option to avoid a week without power with a toddler ofcourse I was taking it. And ofcourse Mimi and Pawpaw were excited to see Allison and hear her sing ‘tinkle tinkle little star’ in person.
So we got back into town on Monday just hours after our power was back on, and the internet came back Tuesday. Today is Thursday and Jeff is back at work but I am not. Seems Marshall Space Flight Center will be one of the last businesses to get power. I’ve been told I have to flex out the missed work time or take vacation or leave-with-out-pay. Boo. I knew I should have worked harder to convince Jeff to skip the wedding and us just go to the beach.
An EF5 with max winds at 205 MPH was just a few miles northwest from my house and within blocks of a few friends houses. Another EF1 tornado was just to the southwest of us. Power was knocked out to the major transmission lines and caused huge problems leading to power being out for 5 days for us and most of north Alabama. I feel lucky that we only had minor damage (fence and siding, maybe some roof shingles) and that I don’t have any close friends with huge damage. Though a mom I know through daycare lost her house, but the family is ok.
Here is a map of the tornado paths (click for larger version w/text description):
After the power went out Wednesday and was not on Thursday we were hearing reports that it could be one week to 10 days before it was restored. (And here I'll say thanks for Verizon for pretty good cell coverage on our smart phones) Jeff had plans to go to his parents house in Mississippi to attends a friends wedding and have a guys weekend, but I decided Allison and I would crash it :) If I had an option to avoid a week without power with a toddler ofcourse I was taking it. And ofcourse Mimi and Pawpaw were excited to see Allison and hear her sing ‘tinkle tinkle little star’ in person.
So we got back into town on Monday just hours after our power was back on, and the internet came back Tuesday. Today is Thursday and Jeff is back at work but I am not. Seems Marshall Space Flight Center will be one of the last businesses to get power. I’ve been told I have to flex out the missed work time or take vacation or leave-with-out-pay. Boo. I knew I should have worked harder to convince Jeff to skip the wedding and us just go to the beach.
