Tonight the hubs and I decided to go over to the west pasture, to see what kind of damage the tornadoes had done over there. The one word we both kept saying over, and over again, was "WOW." It's hard to imagine the awesome, terrible power that could cause such destruction, in such a short amount time. You really can't put in to words what goes through your mind looking at the twisted, broken, and over-turned trees. We went out there specifically to check on one, big old oak tree, to see if it had weathered the storm. That tree was at least 100 years old, and had definitely stood the test of time. I guess this was one test it couldn't pass. Not only was it over-turned, it was badly mangled, had been struck by lightening, and was partially burned. How that entire canyon didn't burn to the ground is beyond me. By the grace of God alone. . .
I am in complete awe of the power, and random destruction of a tornado. It can take out a huge, old tree like our oak, but leave a smaller blackjack tree beside it completely untouched. It can take a cedar tree, and turn it inside out, and yet the elm beside it doesn't have a mark on it. It's very strange, and kind of eerie. How can such power pick up one building, and drop it on another, but yet one 10 feet away is unmoved? How can it suck a lawn chair into a barn, the barn be completely destroyed, and yet the chair sits there, in pristine condition? How can a tornado totally destroy 2 barns, one on either end of our house, yet the house is still standing? It took the tank battery from the west well site - you could see the huge divots in the ground where it bounced across the pasture like a beach ball, to the edge of the canyon, then completely disappeared. It's no where on our property - we looked. It's baffling, to say the least.
When the hubs and I were driving around looking at storm damage, we noticed one of the neighbors houses, in particular. The house was almost completely decimated, yet the solid glass, double doors at the back of the house were still intact, and unbroken. How does this happen?
Tornadoes are natures most violent storms. In an average year, 800 tornadoes are reported nationwide, resulting in 80 deaths and over 1,500 injuries. The most violent tornadoes are capable of tremendous destruction with wind speeds of 250 mph or more. Damage paths can be in excess of one mile wide and 50 miles long. The tornado that came through here on May 24th traveled 73 miles, and was reported to be at least a mile wide. Only 2% of all tornadoes are this powerful, and account for 70% of all tornado deaths. Are we incredibly lucky? Most definitely.
Tornado warnings are not to be taken lightly. I know there are members of my family who think I panic every time there's a cloud in the sky, but this isn't true. I don't panic - I get prepared. I like to be aware of what's going on around me, especially during "tornado season." I used to be terrified of thunderstorms, but over the years, I have learned to respect them, and just pay attention. I've been known to stand out in the middle of the yard, and take pictures of the lightening, and sometimes, get a lucky shot at some awesome cloud formations.
When the May 24th tornadoes came through, I had absolutely no desire to stand out in the yard taking pictures. This one had a whole different "feel" to it. A lot of people have said it felt bad long before the bad stuff started. Intuition is a great thing to have, and I'm glad I listened to mine that day. I'm glad my family and my neighbors did, too. Even with all the destruction, and losses, we're all alive to tell about it. Thank God, and good meteorologists for that!
