Tornado Alley

On the night April 2, 2006, I was asleep in my grandparents bed in Crawfordsville, Indiana. I was staying with them for the week during my spring break, while my parents stayed in Hopkinsville. As I lay in my bed fast asleep, I had no clue what was happening to my home. My mom was at the house by herself around 9:00 PM (my dad worked night shift). It was storming outside, but she was curled up in her pajamas and didn't want to leave the house to take cover unless it was completely necessary. She starts getting calls from my brother and dad, telling her to get out of the house now. At the same time, the weather channel shows a tornado on the ground near Sinking Fork, a mere mile or two from our house. She runs to the car and takes off for my dad's work, going 80 on Happy Hollow Rd while watching all the electricity go off around her. My mom made it and everyone was safe, but the home
my family had owned for nearly 30 years was destroyed.

 Only photo of the tornado, taken from the top of JSMC

When I woke up in the morning on April 3, my grandparents told me to pack because we were going home. I was confused; I wasn't supposed to leave for a few more days, and no one would tell me why we had to go. I sulked in the back of the car until we neared my house. I noticed trees down and construction crews more and more, and finally I saw my own home. There was a giant tree right through the middle, and what had happened finally clicked in my mind. I quickly hugged my mom and dad, and then we jumped straight into the clean up process. It was amazing how many friends, coworkers, family members, and even complete strangers showed up to help. We picked up stick after stick while the Salvation Army brought us lunch, but I soon fell ill and had to sleep in the back of my mom's car everyday while they worked. We were staying in a hotel across town, and we had to stay in this hotel for a whole entire month. We finally got a trailer to live in, and for the next 18 months we lived in that trailer in our side yard while my dad built us a new house. It was small, I didn't even have a room (which I guess was OK considering I slept with my parents every night). It didn't help that on March 3, 2007 I managed to break the biggest bone in my body and cause my parents even more stress. It was a hard time for all of us, but the beautiful house that resulted from all of our hard work made it worth it. 

Before the tornado we loved watching storms, and we still do today. We are constantly watching the radar and looking at the clouds, just waiting for another big storm to brew. A few times since then there has been hints of tornadoes near here, but nothing major. But who knows, maybe tonight that will all change (I really hope not though).