right now

right now

Apr 17, 2011

A wild evening!

I know we made national news last night with our storms and tornados, but we're okay here!  It got a little hairy for awhile and the kids retreated with their handheld video games into the bathroom for about 30 minutes, but we escaped with just wind and rain, little damage compared to other parts of our area.  The wind upended and tore through the patio umbrella and scattered objects around and that was about it.


In other parts the outcome wasn't so great.  We had several tornadoes and there were several fatalities.  Below is the line of storms that came through.


About 8:00 p.m.was the worst of it, we kept power throughout, suprisingly.  Winds in the area were topping 74 mph, with reports of over an inch of rain per hour falling.


One of the tornadoes leveled a path of homes a bit north of us



Below, here is a shot of a tornado's aftermath in one of the neighboring communities.  This is a school, and those are all school buses that had been upended and dropped.  
  

Had I known about the impending storm I wouldn't have planted those tomatoes the other day, but it wasn't in the forecast until yesterday morning, so I was pretty worried about them in the high winds and downpour.  I went out to check last night after the worst of it passed, but not a very good quality video:


Considering the damage around us, I'd say we were very lucky.  I hope any of you readers in N.C. fared as well as we did, and Lorie at 'Gotta Dig it' is okay, she is just north of us and I believe right in the line of things as well.  My thoughts are with any of you who suffered losses or property damage from the storms.

22 comments:

  1. Oh my, I had no idea that you had such bad weather last night. (we really don't watch TV much) I am happy to hear that you and the tomatoes are OK! We had very heavy rain here last night and are having high winds today.

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  2. Glad to hear you are all OK. I was thinking about you. Vernon still hasn't heard about our friend in Gloucester Point. You guys are getting the weather we usually get here in the midwest.
    Judy

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  3. Woah, that sounds terrible. That line of weather caused destruction the whole way through the country. We just got a bunch of rain and some wind. I'm glad to hear you're okay. And I would have loved to see the boys hanging out in the bathroom playing video games! (What, no picture?)

    And I just love that you took a flashlight out to check on the tomatoes!

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  4. Glad you are ok. What a year in weather. I had been watching that storm for days and it left a path of death and destruction everywhere it went. Lets hope things improve from this point on.

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  5. I kept up with the weather yesterday, and hoped you and the family would be ok....it was a damaging storm - that's for sure...

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  6. Whew! That was a little too close for comfort for you guys. So glad you escaped any real damage and am thinking about those who didn't. As Jane said, what a year in weather. Between the hurricanes, crazy strong winds and now tornadoes, I don't think I'd like living in your area much! Thanks for the update. Our temps are way below zero and it doesn't look like our snow is going anywhere soon!

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  7. I just watched the news and they said nothing about your area! NC, yes -80 some tornadoes??? But VA nope didn't realize it stretched up to you's! In any case, VERY glad you are all safe!

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  8. Oh wow I'm glad to hear you all are okay. My thoughts and prayers go out to those who are not.

    Glad your tomatoes made it through. Tough little guys aren't they?

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  9. I think Mama Pea meant to say that "our temps are way below FREEZING" (*not* zero!)! ;)

    - Baby Pea

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  10. Indeed I did! Mean to say our temps are way below FREEZING (that would be 32 degrees) rather than ZERO. Baby Pea is much more awake, alive and alert than I am today! (Although it feels so darn cold out there that it might as well be below zero. Brrrrrrr!)

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  11. Well, duh-I heard about the bad storms but didn't add it up---I'm glad you're okay. And hubby and I were just watching your video and laughing --you are a true blue gardener.....checking the tomatoes. Too funny!
    Anyways, glad you're okay!

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  12. Chicken Mama - LOL, I thought WHAT? below ZERO?? :)

    to all, yes, I'm a freak out there with my tomatoes, you should have seen me during the storm, pacing! Spent the whole day outside picking up today and I'm beat! Hubby was kind enough to make tonight pizza night which means I'm off duty today for dinner and I'm headed to collapse on the couch for awhile :)

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  13. So glad you all are ok. Looks like some areas near you were not so fortunate. We did have a tornado come through, close in fact, but I did not know about it until today when a friend who lives near told me. We had some wind and fierce rain...a lot of hard rain. Hope you have a much calmer evening tonight.

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  14. I am so glad you are okay, I keep tabs (literally tabs on my window on the computer) on the Farmer's Almanac (long range forcast & when to plant) and weather.com (weather channel). I started 95% of our garden in my kitchen, I'm paranoid about losing it. I keep my eye on the weather all year, I check out how wet the spring is now in December, after starting 400 seeds in Jan & Feb one year only to lose 75% of them because we could not put them out until late April. I'm also a weather nut, a friend recommended a place where you can go and watch live feed from storm chasers, we got to see a tornado form in OK on Friday.

    Tell you what, when one blows through here and is headed your way, I'll holler at you!!! Again, I'm so glad you all are okay.

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  15. Okay, just checked possible rain & storms on Thursday for your area.

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  16. You and your family are safe, that's all that matters. Tomato plants can be replaced, loved ones can't.

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  17. So very glad you and the family are safe! Been scary with these storms the last few weeks.

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  18. Glad to hear that you are ok. What a wild string of weather! My thoughts are with those who weren't so lucky. Thanks for posting to let us know you're ok!!

    I can't even imagine tornadoes right now. Our weather up here dipped down cold again and we have frost most mornings. You just never can tell with Mother Nature, can you?

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  19. so glad every one is safe- tornadoes scare me to death- i keep dreaming i will be in one similar to Dorothy [ wizard of oz]but you remember MN,we just don't get them like you do down south [ or not as often]

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  20. Erin, Glad that you and your family are ok. A little bit of that weather came through here, too, and a tree came down in the woods behind the house, but that's it.

    After the water drains out of your soil a bit, the conditions should be just about right for more planting!

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  21. Glad you are all okay, that must have been quite the storm system!

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  22. Glad to hear that you are okay. Those storms are indeed scary.

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