OMG!! My Family Just Barely Survived a Tornado and I Do Believe I am in Shock......

Yesterday at approx. 4:15 pm. A tornado ripped through my neighborhood here in eastern NC.

The story begins with knowing a storm is coming, but nothing more than your typical thunderstorm. As I sat and watched out my window, the clouds grew more malevolent with great strikes of lightening in the distance. My dog began to cry and scratch at the back door, which she NEVER does during a storm. I then see the wind beginning to pick up and the rain begin to fall.

So I run to the back door to let her in and into her kennel. My husband and I stood there in at the sliding glass door watching the wind pick up. To our amazement we see debris begin to fly in the distance. I witnessed a metal garage, a 16 x 24 rip apart in mid air and coming flying towards our property, then another come over my fence, tearing it down, appearing to head in my direction. My husband yells for me and the kids to get to the closet. My adrenaline begins to take me into a fight or flight mode of thought. There we waited for what seemed like an eternity. My children and I prayed to all the Gods to not let my double wide mobile home become our tomb.

After a while, my husband came to us to give us an all clear ( I still do not know where he hid) since there was not enough room in our closet for all of us.

As I walked outside, I about passed out from what I witnessed......

My childrens playground set made from red wood, 25 ft wide with ALL the bells and whistles and a tower was literally destroyed, along with my fencing, both private and chain link. All my patio furniture and veggie garden area gone, destroyed. Debris from every where else seemed to have landed in my backyard.

My prayers were answered. My home was UNTOUCHED!! The rest of my acre well.......it looks like a bomb went off....

Debris still up in the trees of the forest 2 acres from my house.....I have survived the last 24 hours in shock. Comfortably numb comes to mind from Pink Floyd....

My electricity literally just came back on, and I feel as though I am suffering from heat exhaustion with the record near 100 degree temps and no damn generator or running water; since I have a well which runs on electricity.

I felt the need to record my experience here on ATS....
I was scared, mortified, and fearful that I would die trying to save my young kids....The damage from my house begins within 10 feet!!! 10 feet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My kids are saddened at the loss of their beloved playpark, but they understand that we ARE ALIVE!!!!!!!!

I am soooo angry right now, no tornado alarm went off, no warning on the weather channel that we were in a tornado watch...NOTHING!!! What is going on here, this is not normal here in NC. In the last 2 years tornadoes have become a thing of which we are not used to. People here do not have basements because the water table is too high.

My daughter asked me why mother nature was being evil? Me in shock could only shake my head....I do not know what is happening but Mother Earth does seem to be a little upset with us....Floods, droughts, unexpected tornadoes, sinkholes, rumblings, loud noises.....whats next?

Now, time for me to go take a cold shower now that my water is back on....

An awful experience , especially with no warning , BUT , you are here to tell the tale thankfully. Sad for the damage and shock to you all - please tell us where hubby hid Sounds horrendous and sorry you lost all your veggies too but very glad you peeps came out the other side unscathed .

P.S. Sweet tea is supposedly good for shock - alcohol works too as a toast to life !

Wow! That was amazing! I'm so glad you and your house are intact... What an experience!

reply to post by Starwise


It's time for you and your family to ask youselves for what purpose God saved you.

You are indeed lucky, but yes, these sorts of things are scary, shocking, and the mind goes into a shut-down mode because the intense fear short-circuits it.

When I lived in California, I used to think that tornadoes were cool: Wicked, fascinating, and always happening to somebody else. Now that I have lived in Texas for the past decade, I have a different view of them. They scare the hell out of me. I watched a few form close to my house, and all I could do was stand there shaking in my shoes.

Twice this year we had to discuss whether or not to get outside into our shelter. These pop-up storms can become severe very quickly, sometimes more quickly than the storm centers can keep up with. You can't trust them to always warn you in advance.

Glad to know that you and your family are safe, and know this: If the damage was only 10 feet away, you are truly blessed!! Somebody up there likes you. :-)

Tornados are quite unpredictable. Tornadoes can only form in fairly specific conditions. If these conditions are noticed, a watch is issue. The conditions may have been different at the weather station, or, well, you know how accurate the forecasts are. Tornado warnings happen after a tornado is actually spotted and called in. You gonna call it in or go for cover? Depends on how far in advance you knew. Sounds like....not very!

Your husband is a good man for not hogging space in the closet to himself. I wonder if he decided to watch the show and didnt want to freak you out. Lol.

You should build a "bomb shelter" to go in for such things. It could happen again but i hope not. It can be done fairly cheaply....cheaper than a double wide atleast!

reply to post by Starwise


My daughter asked me why mother nature was being evil?
mother nature is evil??
gee nice too see God getting a break for a change,,,though.
10ft circle?,,ur lucky.
Praise whatever,,,

ur alive.

reply to post by Starwise


sorry to hear this !

My sister lived in Georgia and moved to Washington State after the first twister lit down 3 houses away from her..

she moved within 30days.. with her 2 kids while her husband stayed back and finished his job and gave his 30day notice.

Until, Congress & the person that is currently sitting on his ass in the oval office doing nothing but for himself.. .. my only suggestion is .. MOVE.. the life of you and your family isn't worth staying there..

Originally posted by phroziac
Tornados are quite unpredictable. Tornadoes can only form in fairly specific conditions. If these conditions are noticed, a watch is issue. The conditions may have been different at the weather station, or, well, you know how accurate the forecasts are. Tornado warnings happen after a tornado is actually spotted and called in. You gonna call it in or go for cover? Depends on how far in advance you knew. Sounds like....not very!

Your husband is a good man for not hogging space in the closet to himself. I wonder if he decided to watch the show and didnt want to freak you out. Lol.

You should build a "bomb shelter" to go in for such things. It could happen again but i hope not. It can be done fairly cheaply....cheaper than a double wide atleast!

Yes he just admitted to me he was being a looky loo.....

Thanks everyone for your well wishes.....I am also out of work on temporary disability for my recent knee surgery..... So even if I had to run, I wouldn't be able to...

i'm in texas and i'm terrified of tornadoes. we don't have basements either. you're very lucky.

as far as no warning...... there just isn't always a way to accurately predict that one is going to happen. even if there was a warning you probably still wouldn't have done anything any different. once the warning has happened that means one is on the ground and there just isn't time to do much other than get in the closet.

again.... very glad you are all unharmed.

Yikes! I'm glad you're OK. I'd be tempted to stay out and watch too. I think tornadoes are fascinating and would love to see one, but I'm near Seattle and probably don't get just how scary they can be. Any way to show us a picture? Must be surreal to have the house intact with the kids playset destroyed.

ETA good job story telling. I read that post fast and on the edge of the couch. Also, I'm sure this doesn't need to be said but keep an eye on the kiddos. They may be doing the brave face but I can empathize with how frightening that would be for a child. Pancakes make everything better.

reply to post by Domo1


I have no idea how to upload a photo from my folder to this website....but will try!

I'm glad your ok. I can't even imagine how scary it must have been.
Worst I've experienced where using 30-45 minutes on a usually 3 minute stretch against the wind on my bike (downhill mostly,road along beach) and even got bruises from the rain. And that was only from what little that was left of Katrina when it reached Norway. American weather is just surreal.

Originally posted by Domo1
Pancakes make everything better.

edit on 2-7-2012 by Domo1 because: (no reason given)

I couldn't agree with Domo more on all counts, especially the pancakes statement. We put peanut butter on ours before pouring on the syrup. Enjoy with a big glass of milk, and then everyone goes back to bed.

'So glad that you and your family are alright. Maybe it will help the children if they have the opportunity to tell the story to friends or family, as well.

reply to post by Starwise


Ensure they are the jpeg and size around 700 X what it reverts to and then go to my ats, then the last button on the right, upload. Wait for it to load and then use the tab at the far top left to upload a picture from your computer. Then click the picture and copy and paste the top code out of the 3 into a post.

I'm really sorry this happened. I don't believe its Mother Nature, but the madmen running things and their friends.
Some of it could be related to the Gulf Stream shutdown, and that had alot to do with BP and also the underwater nukes used Pacific as well. They are unbelievable in their insanity.

As a mother of 5 who could never afford the kind of back yard equipment, its not as important as life and liberty and your home, BUT, the loss for them is still significant. Some people never get to give their children what they consider a normal childhood and what is occurring here is a war against Love and Goodness.

God Bless, and I am glad you folks are safe.

2nd line

If the timelines are worked by them to bring in a Blue Wave, it will be an electro magnetic type of pulse, as a part of this cycle, really it is something deliberately done, make sure everyone is in the house and shut the door and windows.

reply to post by Starwise


I was out walking when the Derecho hit a few days ago. It was scary and dangerous and I honestly thought I was in a tornado.

Some pics of damage: