Tornado? What?

When does New Hampshire ever get Tornado's? Well, according to our local meteorologist about 1.6 times a year on average, but they are normally and F1 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. This one that ripped through my town and 8 others in NH was officially declared an F2 on the scale. It was so horrible and I can't even imagine those towns who have been though f3 and above.

We arrived home from vacation late Wednesday night thanks to delays in Chicago. On Thursday I had to watch Oliver and Alexis (my child care kiddos) so I was up bright and early. It was sprinkling off and on, but nothing major. I gave the kids lunch and laid them down for a nap, came downstairs and turned on the TV. Our local news was on and they were talking about a Tornado Warning in our area. I didn't think much of it since we get those all the time and nothing has ever came of it. (I have since learned my lesson) I went into tell Wesley that we have a big storm coming and that we may lose power and then I went around and closed the windows. Within 1 minute the rain came pouring down, the wind was whipping and the power shut off. I stood in the middle of my living room with Wesley in shock. I looked out the front window only to see this tree bend over touching the ground. HOLY CRAP!! Then the wind really started whipping and I started to panic about getting the kids from upstairs, getting in the basement, and not dying! I looked out the kitchen window and the rain was whipping sideways and I couldn't see 2 feet in to the back yard. I turned around to get the kids and it was over. That was it! I calmed down, opened up the house a little, and called Michael. About 5 minutes later my phone started ringing off the hook. I had no cable but my family and friend were keeping my up to date on what was going on.

I was a ball of nerves all day because the storm destroyed the street that ours is off of. We were seconds away from having our home destroyed and yet nothing happened except a few leaves and dirt plastered to the side of our house and the fence that cracked this winter officially broke. They weren't allowing anyone up the road because of downed trees and wires. It was like a war zone with sirens, chainsaws, helicopters, and planes all flying over. I hated not being able to see what was going on since we had no cable or internet. One of the firemen wasn't even going to let Oliver's Mom come and pick him up. She is nursing him still so that's the only ways he was able to walk up and get him.

On Friday morning we packed the kids into a stroller and went out to explore the damage. It was unbelievable and nothing looks the same anymore. A good friend had her house deemed unlivable because of all the trees that crashed through it. FEMA deemed it the worst in that area. My brothers house in on that street and although he had a lot of felled trees and a smashed car his house was left undamaged. A few shingles flew off but that's nothing compared to his neighbors. It was destroyed as well and the owners had just moved in there a few months ago.

We finally got power back on Friday night. Michael and I were fully prepared to be without power this whole weekend so we were thrilled. Of course I hopped right on the computer to download the pictures. The tornado passed through so quickly and the clean up is going to take a long time. People from all over New England responded so quickly and have been here helping with the tree removal and roof patching.

I took a ton of photos and I put them up on my Flickr account. They are edited to protect my neighbors and brothers privacy. If you are a myspace friend you can see them all totally unedited.