Tornado!

Early this morning tornados ripped through central Florida, bringing death and destruction. They were not too far from our area which had some pretty intense thunderstorms. I didn't know that because I was sound asleep in our glassed in Florida room where I had gone to cool off. I can sleep through anything.

My daughter Tami called from Colorado to see if we were all right. That was when I learned of the tornadoes devastation. Coloradoans know first hand the havoc a tornado can cause.

Some years ago tornados struck the small towns of Rush and Limon, Colorado on the same day. Richard was in the Pizza Hut at Limon with several other school superintendents. They had gathered for a meeting and were on lunch break. Looking out the window, they saw the tornado. It flipped the hood on Richard's car and wrecked over half the town.

At almost the same time, I was at home trying to batten down the hatches because of the storm. My mother, who grew up in Nebraska and was all too familiar with tornadic activity, said, "The sky looks tornado green."

I ran out to our motor home to close the windows. I didn't notice the roar at first, then all at once it seemed to surround and flatten me. The sound was more intense than anything I've ever heard. The motor home rocked wildly and I heard what sounded like a gunshot. I later learned it was a tree breaking in half across the road.

I huddled on the floor, not remembering I should seek shelter in a closet or other enclosure. The motor home careened and lurched and bounced up and down, then was suddenly back on all its wheels. Within moments, the roar gave way to the sound of heavy rain, and I raced to the house to check on Mama.

The tornado had come close enough to terrify me but not close enough to do any real damage to our house. I can only imagine how these Floridians felt being awakened at three in the morning by a tornado! My heart breaks for them.