Almost lost my two daughters and grandchildren this morning

    • Anonymous
      November 16, 2008 at 1:37 am

      Three o’clock this morning my area had a really bad heavy rain with high winds and it was a bad storm. It woke me up from my sleep. So I got on up and fixed me a drink and turned the TV on! Husband even got woke up and couldn’t sleep! 5 in the morning the news came on and a tornado hit the town that my two daughter lives in, my grandchildren and my son in law. It was a really really bad tornado. Almost wiped out the town. 2 people were killed and several injured. And they are still looking for survivors. They would not let the news crews in until later.
      But then they showed an area and it tore me up! I realized that it was a really tragic tornado and now I am worried about my children and grandchildren. It’s been a rough day. They set up a Church for rescue victoms and the police department was not answering the phones except for 911 calls. So I couldn’t reach anybody. My daughter wa not answering her cell phone and my other daughter was not answering her phone. So I went several hours with the unknown. Even the Red Cross could not help me and told me to just keep trying to get through. We left and went to Kenly which is 16 miles away. They would not let us in the town and made us turn back. So we came back home. Finally after several hours of being torn apart we heard from them both. They were okay. Phone lines were down and power lines were down and they could not call or get out of the town. They are both staying with me a while. Got a house full! That tornado ended 1 mile away from our home and it killed an 8 year old boy along with injuring his mother. Several injured. My one daughter’s house had her windows in her home all get shattered and they have to get them repaired. My other daughter’s house is okay but she is scared to stay there right now. Lets just say that God was with my children early yesterday morning and I am one very lucky mom that ended up having my family spared.

      Here is the news showing the horrible devastation! Like I said! God was watching over my children last night. But others were not as lucky.
      Check this out!

      http://www.wral.com/news/local.image_gallery/3968371/

      http://www.wral.com/weather/image_gallery/3966194/

      http://wral.com/weather/video/3966804/

      My two daughter’s are in shock, my grandbabies are shaken up and my son in law.. I think it scared him worse than my two daughters. The tornado packed winds at 130 miles per hour and it ripped that town in shreds. And we might have another storm tonight. I sure hope it’s not like this one!
      But I am grateful my kids are safe and in my home. Just goes to show a person how short life can really be and we never know when our time comes. We can be here today and gone tomorrow. Life is too short and we all need to enjoy each and every moment, For in a flash it can be gone real quick and nobody is safe.
      Hugs
      Linda H

    • Anonymous
      November 16, 2008 at 8:12 am

      Linda,

      As I was reading your post, I was trembling, thinking that you REALLY DID lose your daughters and grandchildren……………………I was sooooooooooo glad and relieved to see you post that they were ok. I know you and your husband were “beside yourself” worrying about them!@!!!!!
      I will PM you in a second.

      God was surely with them,

      Per

    • Anonymous
      November 16, 2008 at 11:15 am

      Linda, what a horrible time you all had. There is nothing worse than not knowing if loved ones made it safe through a catastrophe. And being in the middle of a storm is really scary. I am glad your family is OK. Hopefully it won’t be bad tonight.

      We never experienced a tornado while living in Raleigh except a real bad storm that blew over a large tree behind the house. It went through the roof.

      When I see WRAL I know right away it’s a TV station in Raleigh.

    • Anonymous
      November 16, 2008 at 11:34 am

      Linda,

      I am so happy that your family is ok and safe. I can only imagine the fear that you and your husband felt.

    • Anonymous
      November 16, 2008 at 1:51 pm

      Linda, I’m glad to hear your family members are safe. My Prayers are with Everyone who went through such an ordeal. You all are very Blessed.

    • Anonymous
      November 16, 2008 at 3:35 pm

      Linda,
      So glad your family is ok. My nephew and his family live in Raleigh-Durham so as soon as I read your post I called to make sure they are OK. He didn’t even realize anything had happened. They have a six year old and a new baby and everyone has been sick so they have been in bed all weekend. I was so thankful they were safe.

      Sending prayers your families way and for all the others affected by the weather.

    • Anonymous
      November 16, 2008 at 8:09 pm

      Oh Linda, I am so glad your family is safe! How horrible it must have been to have to wait for news about them. Gob Bless!

    • Anonymous
      November 17, 2008 at 2:39 pm

      Dear Linda!

      I can’t even begin to imagine what it must have been like for you to know this dreadful weather had hit where your dear ones live. I’m so happy that they were safe, but I have had a look at the videos on WRAL, and it was almost unfathomable what had happened to the buildings where the tornados had made their path through the landscape. It makes me aware of how fortunate I am living in a part of the world where nature is almost completely benign and predicable. We had a storm the last night I spent on the island in October with winds that shook my timber-walled house, but we would never experience anything worse than some tiles being blown down from the roof.

      All the best from

    • Anonymous
      November 17, 2008 at 7:07 pm

      Sorry I have not been online much! These past two days have been hectic. We got up Sunday morning and went into Kenly to go see my daughters home and get measurements of her windows and see if there was other damage that my daughter’s husband could not see. Andy since he has had experience in building wanted to look at everything really good so they can show it to the insurance adjuster. So far the only damage we saw to my daughters house was her windows. And my other daughters home we had to saw a tree down. Her house was spared and okay!
      I am keeping the babies until my daughter gets those window’s fixed and tonight my two daughters with Chris left over to Cheri’s house and are staying there so they won’t be driving to far to work.
      The babies! You won’t be getting them out of my house anytime soon. On the way to Kenly yesterday both of them started screaming and freaking out.
      I had to hold them both the entire time assuring them they were going to be okay, that the big bad wolf had run off and got buck shot in his tail because angry grandma went after that wolf and beat him up! LOL! What a grandparent will say to calm children down! 😀
      The devastation was horrible. I don’t see how some people even survived it! Some houses were gone! Totally gone! Alot of house’s gone. There were alot of lucky people that morning to have survived something that bad.
      We left and went to Lowes yesterday and part of my lottery winnings bought my daughter her windows. They are having Lowes coming in next Tuesday and have then installed. I guess there was a reason why I won that money. She had 8 windows in her house and 5 shattered the glass when the storm hit them. Those 5 windows ended up costing 2 thousand dollars. Whew! Thank-god her window’s in that home aren’t large ones. Then we stopped by the Church that is handling Red Cross relief and I gave them $500.00 to help out others. My daughter is going to pay me back when the insurance company gets things going. But it may be a few months before she even see’s a check and they need their home. So I went ahead and bought the windows for her.
      My two grandbabies! It’s not funny but it’s the way the one said something. We got back home yesterday and Hana the youngest one comes into my lap and put her arms around me wanting some loving. She suddenly looks at me with this real concerned look and say’s “Nana! Me don’t wonts to go wivs in dat town! Me don’t wikes dat town no mower! ROFL! 😀 Then my other grand-daughter looks at Hana and tells her that Nana is now letting them live here
      and we no longer have to see that town ever again! Ohh dear! LOL!
      My daughter is going to have one heck of a time getting these two children back in that town. Unless they forget what happened and I don’t think they are going to forget that!
      Other than being a little tired we seem to be okay right now and that is all that matters.
      Ohh Norb! Kenly and my area are about 1 hour away from Raleigh. Our local News Channel is WRAL though! Any bads news happens in my area and WRAL covers it. I live close to Wilson, NC. Only 3 miles from Wilson, NC. I live out in the country of Wilson. In Nash County, but cross one street and then I am in Wilson County. Well I better get offline. Andy and the babies are watching a Cartoon movie but it’s amost over with. Then it’s bath time and bed!
      Everybody have a good night! Hugs
      Linda H

    • Anonymous
      November 17, 2008 at 11:17 pm

      [FONT=Georgia]Linda sorry to hear about this I’m just glad to hear everyone is ok ![/FONT]

    • Anonymous
      November 18, 2008 at 8:25 pm

      Thanks Terry! Today was hard babysitting. I made them both go to bed with Andy tonight. I’m sleeping on the couch tonight! Today both of them showed their behinds. It’s cold outside and we stayed in all day. So it was fight over toys all day long. Andy worked today and when he got home I was ready to hand them over to Grandpa! ROFL! He’s stuck with them tonight giving me a night of peace and quiet! LOL! I had a bad headache today too and almost got sick until I took something for pain. When I feel okay, I don’t mind keeping them. But when you feel bad it makes the job alot harder!
      Governor Easley is going to ask for Federal Disaster Assistance but I really doubt there will be any! Today I went through a few things I don’t need and decided to get them to my daughter when she comes back over and let that be donated to some of the people that lost things. Well! It’s a good time for getting rid of clutter in my house. And it’s things others could use.
      Hugs
      Linda H

    • Anonymous
      November 19, 2008 at 7:42 am

      Linda,
      Glad your family is safe. Little ones can keep you on the go.
      Hope today is a better day than yesterday for you.
      Take care
      Shirley

    • Anonymous
      November 19, 2008 at 3:25 pm

      Linda,
      Just had a chance to look at some of the back post. Thanks God you and your daughter made it through the weather without any injuries. I can only imagine how terrifying not knowing must have been.