Well its been 15 years since this devastating event that myself and my two girls (now teenagers) and brothers had to endure. I went to bed that night angry at my ex boyfriend, their father, for not taking his shoes off on my freshly steam clean carpet. I had a toddler, Ariel Johnson crawling around and wanted it to stay clean. Needless to say the argument created in him just going home. The weather outside that night seemed like just a forever long thunderstorm. It was humid and I simply was in a thin robe for bed. I had both the girls in my bed so that they may sleep better amid all of the loud thunder and bright lightning. I fell asleep a little later than usual that evening and at about 4 am or something in the morning my mom calls me and tells me to turn on the TV and within minutes shes telling me to get the girls downstairs and go into the bathroom and take cover that a tornado will soon hit my exact area. I snatched up both girls and threw them into the downstairs bathroom with me with a blanket from the couch all the while staying on the phone with my mother until chaos ensued and the power went out. I looked out of the back sliding doors and saw the tornado whipping debris and causing the gas pumps at the gas station behind my town house to become ripped from the ground. At first the girls were whining and complaining and confused as to what was going on but as that tornado came through everything got quiet its almost as though the pressure in the air made our bodies go in to shock. When it was all over I called 911 because I could not get through to my mother I was so confused didnt know whether to leave or to stay where I was didnt know if I had anything even around me anymore. With her assistance I was able to get myself together and leave the house mind you in a road and high heels work shoes. It was at about this exact time when my brothers and I were standing outside of our townhouse is waiting for the Red Cross to get a head count of everyone to see who lived or who died. I am thankful to my mother and father who came through the back side of the neighborhood to get me out of there as I was told we could not leave. My brothers knew how scared I had been... my damage and situation was much more different than what they experienced they told me to go ahead and go and they would let the Red Cross now about me and the kids and I got out of that place and never looked back. You could see the mud that was splattered all over every structure there was so much debris from the grocery store roof...rugs from the Rug Gallery everywhere...artificial flowers and the like from the flower arrangement store that was tore up. I am ever so thankful as the bathroom in the townhouse next to us (as we found out later) had a 4 by 4 that torpedod through the sliding glass door and stuck in the wall literally underneath the toilet paper holder where India Johnson was in between my legs. That spooked me out to no end. I am thankful for so many things that didnt happen that could have on that scary morning. I hope to never experience anything like that again. Buddy Joe Johnson Barb Thomas-Barb Thomas-Hustead David Hustead
Posted on: Wed, 09 Apr 2014 12:31:49 +0000
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