Stormy Weather

I'm scared of bad weather.  I'm even scared of not-so-bad weather.  I guess I can blame it on the tornado that hit Arkadelphia on March 1, 1997...  ever since that day, I have been terrified.  Ask any of my friends or family.  They will tell you that I am NOT the person you want to be around when there is a cloud in the sky.  My sister is the same way.  She's the ONLY one that understands me when it comes to weather.

About a week an a half ago we had some really bad weather come through Faulkner County.  Ned called me multiple times telling me to take cover immediately (channel 7 weather call).  The first time he called it was about 5pm and Jason was driving home from work.  I was completely freaking out.  I grabbed Kohen, Dentin and Peyton and put them in the storage room beneath our staircase.  I put a baby gate up so none of them could get out.  I grabbed both lap tops and my cell phone.  I had the door cracked so I could see/hear the tv (until the satellite went out).  I could hear the tornado sirens going off outside.  Kohen was throwing crayons at the cats and the cats were trying their best to jump over me and over the baby gate to get away from him.  It was JUST ABOUT to much for me to handle.  I was crying and trying to explain to Kohen that everything was ok.  

Jason finally made it home and joined us under the stairs.  We kept getting texts from people asking if we were ok because they heard "it was headed for Centennial Valley" on the news...  After about 40 minutes of intense weather drama we were in the clear (until the sirens went on again about an hour later).  Luckily, Conway was not hit by a tornado.  The only damage we had was to our pool liner and turned over outdoor furniture.  Our neighboring town, Vilonia, was not so lucky... 

Kohen and the cats in our storage room under the stairs...

The sky from our backyard...

Sky from the front yard...

Sky from my sisters house in Bryant... (yes, she texted me a picture of "her" sky)

We found out on the news that Vilonia had been hit by a tornado.  2 days later, I went with Jason to take supplies (toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, etc) to one of the places in Vilonia that were taking donations.  I took some pictures of the town... 

I don't know if you can see all the tarps on all the houses....

We saw this PEACOCK (yes, a peacock) walking around all the damage...

Supplies that we took to Vilonia...

(toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, etc)

The next night the news let us know that this is what was in store for us the following day....

Conway was in the "Moderate" zone but Bryant (where my brother and sister's family live) was in the "High" risk zone.  I called them and told them to come stay at my house for the night.  I was so happy when my brother, sister, Adam, Max, Maddie and Asa came to stay the night.  

Conway still got some really bad weather, but we were very prepared :)

Here's a picture of our very own weather center...