Ok, so not officially a tornado, but rather "straight line winds"; that is, tornado force winds that don't twist and circle. Close enough. Since 73-110 miles an hour is an F1 tornado, or a category 2 hurricane. We had winds of 82 miles an hour, whether the wind is blowing straight or in circles doesn't really matter. Those are still tornado force winds.
It hit at 9:18 pm. it had been pretty breezy up until that time, when a sudden blast of 82 mile an hour winds hit the house (an older model mobile home), like a ton of bricks. It was an earthquake carried on the wind - you know how they say a tornado sounds like a freight train? they are NOT kidding! The whole house rattled and shook, and the roar of the wind was deafening. At one point I looked out the back window, and my two ash trees were blowing ferociously - in a circular motion. Seriously, not a tornado? I was very worried that the entire roof would blow off of my house, and my poor dog must have thought the world was coming to an end. The only reason I managed to stay calm was so I could try to calm and comfort him. I have no "inside" room to hide in - every room is on an outside wall. I have one interior closet with built-in shelves; no way could i even crouch in that one. So clamped a heavy blanket onto the curtain rod over the large living room window behind the couch and the pup and I rode out the storm curled up on the couch.
How truly worried was I? I put my dog's leash on him and told him if this was a tornado and it picked up the house, we were going to die together.
I had a couple of camping lanterns on a shelf by the back door, that I had planned on putting back out in the shed a few months ago. Glad I didn't because the second the storm hit the power went out, so at least I could have a little bit of light. I keep batteries in the fridge (they keep longer that way), and knew exactly where they were, so a three second grab from the refrigerator shelf and I got the zip lock bag the were in. Put them into the lantern, and at least I had enough light to read by.
I had been working through a book for the past several weeks and opened it up and read out loud, hoping I could keep my voice quiet and calm so maybe the sound of my voice would help calm the pup. It helped, but another hard blast of wind and we would start all over again.
The storm finally passed roughly an hour later. I was exhausted but not able to sleep so I took my dog out for a few minutes to let him relieve himself, and went back inside. A brief look around the backyard didn't reveal any damage; my two 20+ year old ash trees had survived, as well as the roof of the dog kennel and my neighbor's two very large conifers. The house seemed uninjured. A look out the front door showed branches blown over from parts unknown, but nothing significant. Within a half hour or so, the sky cleared and birds were singing. It was as if nothing had happened.
The next morning another look around revealed a broken window on the south end of the house. there was a branch from a silver birch tree lying on the ground beneath the window, which I assumed was the culprit that broke the window. Odd thing was, the only silver birch anywhere around my house are in a neighbor's yard on the north end of the house. Tell me there was no circular motion in that wind.
There was a video on the news, taken by a teenager, who was a passenger in a car heading down a road on the southwest part of town. The boy said he was trying to get some video of the lightning because, "it was pretty cool". What he got however, was a video of several power poles being blown over, including one directly ahead of them. The one directly behind them also fell and power lines fell onto the car. They tried calling 911, but of course their lines were overloaded. Then one of them called his parents, who told them to just sit tight. At their instruction the driver turned the car off and kept doors and windows shut. They sat in the car for almost an hour before the power was shut off and someone was able to assist them.What a store they'll have to tell!
A few days later I had to run out to another town, about 15 miles away and as usual, took the back road which, considering where I live, is quicker - and a much nicer drive. About a quarter of a mile from my house was a large sign that read: "Incident Ahead". Thinking it was a auto accident, imagine my shock when, as I rounded the small hill there, and saw a disaster area. Power poles had been splintered off of their bases and were lying in every direction alongside the road. There were a few that had already been chopped into smaller pieces by emergency work crews, and were piled up off the road. Power lines were strewn all over the ground alongside the road, and emergency crews were working on putting everything back together; one crew setting up new poles, and another behind them stringing up new lines. A pilot car led one lane traffic to another point where more cars were waiting to get through.
It looked like a war zone. Large trees blown over and branches hanging precariously from those still standing. The tin roofs of two outbuildings twisted and shredded. The roof of one house laid bare, all the shingles blown off. And two large, old barns now reduced to piles of firewood. Power was out in this area for almost a week.
The photographer in me wished I would have brought my camera along to document the damage, but then again there was nowhere to pull over. But the view of what I saw will remain with me forever. After seeing this, I realized how lucky I was only to suffer a broken window.
It was a confusing, scary - no terrifying experience, and one I hope NEVER to experience again! My house, my dog and I survived relatively unscathed, with only a broken window, and my power was restored in less than 24 hours.
Thankfully no lives were lost.
