The Storm Is Over

Thursday our neighborhood was hit with a severe thunderstorm. Thunder, lightning, pouring down rain, hail, high winds, and after 3 days, the National Weather Service finally admitted that it was indeed a tornado that struck about 2 miles from our house!
No damage here. Thank God! Lots of small branches down, and a back yard that resembled the Okefenokee Swamps!

Thursday was my teaching day at the hospital. I typically leave at 3pm. For some reason, I hung out, chatting with my fellow nurses, then got my stuff together to leave. I dropped by my manager's office to say goodbye when I heard the weather alert on the tv. Savannah was under a severe weather warning from 3:15 until 4:15. I told Leigh I was leaving, before the weather hit. It was raining when I left ( about 3:20), but nothing major. The closer to home I got, the worse it got.

The rain was pouring down, it was dark, the winds were blowing really hard, thunder and lightning all around, and hail bouncing off of my new car! Visibility was down to about 2 car lengths in front of me. There was a bus ahead of me, slowing my progress. I just wanted him to pull over, so I could get around him, and get home where I would be safe!

Approximately 2 1/2 miles from home, the damage starts being apparent. Trees down, some totally blocking the road. At Hesse Elementary school, a downed tree was across the entire road. I had to drive into the school's lot to go around the tree. Then at 2 miles from home a downed tree had traffic blocked. I sat for 45 minutes, waiting to get around the tree!



Once I got home, the storm was over! It rained a little more, but in no time the sky was blue again, and the sun shinning! Our power was knocked out, and wouldn't be restored for 30 hours. That's 30 hours during 90+ degrees! We had the house (with the exception of A/C) connected to the generator for a few hours, but John's poor generator died, and like the rest of the neighborhood, we were left in the dark!

Yesterday was a very long day! Sitting around, waiting for the power to be restored. You really realize how much we depend upon electricity when it's gone. There's not a whole lot to do around here with no power!

We drove around looking at the damage in the area. Downed trees everywhere. Huge oaks totally uprooted. A local church lost their steeple.


And several homes damaged by trees laying on top of them. We were very blessed that the major damage missed us.

I can't help but to wonder, what would have happened if I had left the hospital at 3 like I normally do? I would have been right in the middle of the worst part of it! Would one of those trees have fallen on my car?
Would I still be here today?
Guess we'll never know, now will we?