An Unwelcome Overnight Guest

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Gosh, what a crazy week. We saw many of our favorite little friends, which (understandably) means we now have a germy, coughy-cold underway. However, a small illness quickly became the least of our concerns…

A tornado warning was in effect for most of yesterday evening, but didn’t turn into a watch for quite some time. The sirens began going off while I was doing the grocery shopping. A store manager came onto the PA system and advised everyone to make their way to the back of the store and take cover in the coolers (haha). Yeah, no thanks. I paid for my items and then ran out in the torrential rain, looking every which way (as if I could spot a funnel cloud in the distance and avoid it successfully). The sirens continued during my drive home and eventually stopped once I got inside and turned on the news. It seemed that the bulk of concern was significantly south of us, so I didn’t worry too much about the rest of our night. We ate a peaceful dinner together.

I went to bed fairly late, around 1am, and climbed under the covers to cuddle Thumbelina. About an hour later, I awoke to both of us being tossed into the air and landing haphazardly on the bed. The entire house shook desperately, and I cried out for Topher - who was standing beside the window, trying to watch the storm and see if a tornado was in fact heading our way. I remember running downstairs to the basement, with Thumbelina in my arms, and feeling like the storm was furiously chasing us.  I set Thumbelina down on the floor and then dashed back upstairs with Topher to grab important items. (Medicine, wallets, keys, cell phones and a file box of important documents.) We could hear parts of our roof audibly ripping - I worried the top of our home would snap off and spin away into the night.

So, we prayed. Topher rummaged around and found a lantern of sorts to help us see. We used our cell phones as flashlights to find our way in the dark, since we felt totally unprepared for the situation and the power was out. Oddly, Thumbelina slept through the entire drama and only seemed upset that we couldn’t nurse to her little heart’s content (until I settled us into a corner of the basement). Brr. It was cold! And really confusing, because we couldn’t decide what might happen next and if we should stay awake or not. We eventually tried to sleep when the sounds died down, but the stillness was also eerily frightening. I didn’t want to tell Topher that sometimes funnel clouds come in groups - he grew up in Philly and doesn’t know these things! I did not enjoy wondering what was happening outside without any interpretation from a weatherman or two.

We woke up to roof damage and swingsets piled in our backyard. Our next door neighbor’s chimney is dangling, and several people on our street have their air conditioning units twisted upside down. We feel very blessed that the damage was so minimal in comparison to what could have happened, because merely three blocks over is where the worst damage occurred - homes are literally leveled. Piles of wood.

Topher’s friend came over to help him check out the roof damage, since our insurance company is swamped and not very helpful (as of yet) in offering guidance about what we should do. However, I was under the impression that Topher’s friend - the former professional roofer - would be climbing up on top of the house, NOT Topher. So I flipped out slightly upon realizing that my dear husband planned on climbing a ladder and walking around our potentially unstable roof in the midst of gusty winds. Thankfully, he is fine. I was not happy about his decision to go up there, roof damage or not.

Tomorrow I am putting together an emergency kit. I don’t want to ever feel panicked again about realizing the few simple items we need to be comfortable and safe are scattered around the house. Not fun!