The Tornado

We saw on the weather channel website that there was going to be some severe weather in the area, including tornado warnings. On Friday, March 2, Nate and I went to a place called Salyersville to help some friends who were moving. After things were packed and mostly cleaned we all went out to lunch at a little gas station that has an Arbys and Long John Silvers. We said our goodbyes and then as soon as we picked up Liam and Jonas from school we were going to Huntington, West Virginia to pick up our new (to us) car. It had been raining all day and during our drive it was no different. We finally made it home early that evening. It wasn't quite dark yet but the skies were starting to turn dark. It felt kind of eerie outside. The air felt really warm and calm. Nate checked the radar and found out there were still weather warnings so he put our new car in the carport next door where there is a vacant house. After a while the rain continued and then it started hailing. I have heard on the news "golf ball sized hail" but had never seen it myself. Now I have...


It was coming in sideways at our house and I really thought the window was going to break. Combined with the thunder and lightening we were all a little nervous but eventually it passed. Nate went and checked his car and there were 2 dents that he could see. We were so happy he thought to put our car in the carport next door!

The next day we checked the news and found out there had been a tornado that touched down uncomfortably close to our house (about 1.5 miles). Some friends from our ward had quite a few trees fall down onto their brand new fence, but thankfully not their house. Nate and a bunch of other guys went over to their house that day to clear out the trees. We also found out that the town of Salyersville, where we had been the day before, was hit really bad. That gas station where we had lunch, as well as most businesses on that main street of the town, were pretty much gone.

Nate has gone out a few times to help with clean up. They also turned our church building into the "command center" for the Helping Hands volunteers. It has been pretty crazy to see our cultural hall full of wheel barrows, rakes, shovels, chain saws, and cleaning kits while the Relief Society room is the office.

Oh, you want to see the car?...

It is a 2010 Mazda 5. We really like it!