Weather Watch

Yesterday was a day of weather watching. We were under a tornado warning, then a watch, then warnings again. For most of the afternoon and evening. Several tornadoes were spotted in the general area. One major twister touched down north of where I live and ended up demolishing part of an elementary school while the kids were inside! Only three injuries. Thank goodness. As you can imagine, I was a nervous wreck with my eldest at school and the babies to worry about here at the house. All we got here was LOTS of rain and some hail. After the worst of the first storm was over it got very very still and strange feeling. Kind of scary. But it passed. We had about another three major downpours and then it started to clear up. Here are some pictures I took of my back yard after the first round. Keep in mind this was only ten minutes of rain.

And here we have some of the hail that fell at my house. I didn't go out into the yard after any of the bigger pieces. When I did try, I realized the puddles were half way up to my knees!

The boys' outside play area was totally flooded. Toys were blown all over the yard. I ended up having to rescue balls and trucks from the front yard and one big ball from the side yard. They almost made it across the street!

I am just happy that we are all safe and sound. My daughter got home on the school bus during a lull in the storm. She said the high school had them in the halls, etc. for safety during the actual tornado watch. One of the women in my playgroup has family in the town where the school was hit. All of her family are safe, too! This was a very weird coincidence (I think) after reading this post over at The Barn Bums the day before. I guess it is time to follow my mother's advice and get my emergency kit together. You never know what Mother Nature is going to throw your way!