Today was one of the days that I have been dreading as a parent. The day I am referring to is when your children's lives are in imminent danger and you just pray that the decisions that you are making at the time are the right decisions. Obviously, I am posting this blog post, so we are all fine..but it was a terrifying ordeal!
We were invited to our friend's son's first birthday party in St. John, Indiana. The party started at 3, but we didn't leave until about 3 because of naps. It was hot and humid all morning long. Very sunny! But, the weather report did say there was a chance of scattered thunderstorms. On our way, there were several spots of rain, some very strong. When we got to Indiana, the skies were turning very dark. We were about 3 minutes from their house and the rain started....it started pouring. We pulled up in front of their house and parked. We could see everyone in the garage taking cover from the rain. Kevin and I decided to wait in the car for a few minutes to see if the storm would let up. Our friends have lots of friends and family, so they had rented a tent (not unlike the tent we rented for Charlotte's party a few weeks ago), a jumpy, and several tables and chairs. All of this was set up in the front lawn. All of the sudden, the wind and rain got so fierce....the tables and chairs started flying. The tables were flying into cars...one of the circular tables actually went rolling past our car like a tumbleweed in the old west. Then, the force of the wind sent the tent flying....the tent that was staked into the ground. One of the stakes, went flying...directly into our car. (I found out later that it was a stake...at the time I just thought it was a metal pole) It hit the driver side wheel area. I screamed, it scared me so bad!! And that was the point where I said, "tables and chairs are flying, trees are snapping, this could be (or turn into) a tornado and we are sitting ducks in this car." We needed to get the kids inside to safety. But it was still POURING and the wind was incredible...and it was now hailing to boot. Our car was shaking. We made the decision to make a run for it because we just weren't safe in the car anymore. I reached back from the driver's side and unbuckled Nate and held him as close as I have ever held him. Kevin did the same to Charlotte from the passenger's side. By this time, they had shut the garage. We were praying the front door was open. On the count of three, we decided to go. I could barely get the door open with the force of the wind. We left everything behind..purses, diaper bags, etc. I couldn't believe it. The rain and the hail were like nails to our face. I just buried Nate into my chest and ran like hell. He was screaming, Charlotte was screaming. I couldn't see two feet in front of me. We finally made it to the door and the lights were now off (they had lost power) and the door was locked and Kevin and I said at the same time, "SH&*, they all went to the basement and can't hear us!" We stated POUNDING on the door and thankfully, they heard us and let us in. We were drenched....literally dripping, soaking wet. You could wring the water out of my sundress. The kids were crying, they had no idea what had just happened. We were all dripping wet and now standing in a nicely air conditioned vestibule. Charlotte and Nathan were shaking they were so cold. Everyone was so nice, they brought us towels and took the kids clothes and put them in the dryer. So, I carried Nate around in a towel and a diaper (because there is no way in hell his arms were going to get unclenched from my neck for a while). Kevin carried Charlotte in her underwear and towel. We took the kids to the garage to sit and dry out because it was warmer out there. We were just in shock. The storm continued to pound the house. The hail, the wind...it was so loud. Finally the storm passed and we could open the garage and assess the damage. I went out to look at the car to see if it was drivable. We had no idea what the stake had hit, I just knew it was loud. There were tables and chairs and debris everywhere..there were tree branches everywhere. All of the neighbors were walking though the neighborhood reclaiming their belongings and dragging their broken trees to the curb. The man across the street had a window blown out of his house.
We tried to enjoy the party once it cleared up...but I was soaked down to the undergarments...Kevin was too. We were miserable. Plus the kids clothes were still damp. My naturally wavy hair that I had perfectly straightened before the party was now a huge ratted afro mess...even Charlotte said, "Mommy, your hair doesn't look right.." Thanks, kid. So, we stayed for a while, but we made our exit around 7:00. Driving out of the subdivision, we really got a picture of the damage. Trees were down everywhere. We played "Monday morning quarterback" the whole way home...should we have just stayed in the car? Did we do the right thing?? What if we would have been hit by debris running to the house? If only we had gotten there 5 minutes sooner...if we didn't stop for gas.
Thankfully, we are all fine... Charlotte is still talking about the the thunderstorm and her dress getting soaked and most of all, the fact that mommy's hair didn't look right. The local newspaper, The Times, was stating that they could not rule out tornado activity and that the National Weather Service is coming out on Sunday to assess the damage. They are estimating the winds around 70 mph. So, we'll see.
The stake that hit our car. I am using my foot (size 7) to show scale. Imagine if that had gone through the window...we were very lucky.
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