Moore Oklahoma

This week has been unforgettable.  We have been living in a haze wondering what to do and can't stop looking at the pictures on TV.

I did not know how big and horrible the tornado was until about midnight when we got a generator hooked up and Justin finally made it home to tell what he had seen. It was about 2:20 in the afternoon and I had the tv on listening to the weather they said storms were coming be alert. I texted my neighbor and told them we were coming over to their storm shelter if it got bad.  I am not nervous about tornados and storms and actually kind of like a good thunderstorm but this day was different I felt nervous and anxious so I decided to wake addi and Easton and head over to the shelter. I texted Justin who was at the fire station, that I was going and told him I loved him and he said be safe and he loved all of us. We walked across the street and it had just started raining. We talked for a few minutes and the news said the tornado was in new castle we decided to go onto the shelter. We had 3 adults and 3 kids. I have had severe anxiety maybe a slight panic attack twice in my life and they were both when I have been in this storm shelter with my kids. I hate it. It is hot and it feels like you can not breathe. It is a horrible feeling and when our neighbor said let's close the door I almost lost it but after a few minutes I was better and was able to focus. This shelter is a 3 foot by six foot hole. At first we were watching on the computer screen the path the tornado was takin but it was still 15 miles away. I was never put it together that we were in the direct path. I got a text from a friend in Amarillo and thought that was strange that she knew about it.  Then we lost power so we waited. It sounded like we were standing next to train it wasn't rain or hail it was just a loud loud noise then it was gone.

I am so thankful that when we opened the door thay house was still standing. There was debris everywhere we had photographs all in our yard and I knew the tornado was bigger than I thought. Our phones didnt work occasionally you would get a tex or a call to go through.  Looking back I am glad I didn't see all the text or get the calls because even at this point I had no idea how close we came.

Justin was at the fire station watching and he knew we were in the direct path and he was 30 minutes away and there was nothing he could do.  His call finally went through and he told me an elementary school had been hit and they were forming task teams and headed that way.  We finally got a generator hooked up around 10 and I started seeing all the news coverage and I started to grasp how big and horrible this was. If the tornado would have stayed headed northeast we would no longer have a home. For some reason it turned less than a half a mile east. We live on 7 th street and 4 th street is totally destroyed.

I can not imagine what Justin saw at that school there were 8 children killed and some parents that were trying to get to their children. 24 people total were killed. Justin said it was amazing eerie and vey somber at the school. He helped clear 2 hallways the children were sheltered in. I pray for the parents the nightmare of not knowing where your child was the panic they must have felt. I pray for those kids how terrified they must have been and the teachers that helped them. I pray for all the firefighters and rescuers. How their hearts must be changed from what they have seen. Many people think firefighters put out fires and that is such a small small part of what Justin does. I am so so proud  that Justin is a firefighter and that he is apart of such a wonderful department.

Our water was turned back on yesterday and we just got our power back. We went to our church today and it was wonderful seeing all the support people had given.
It has been unbelievable.  So thankful we are FiNE