Tornado hit my mobile home park.

Jody

Active Member
Memorial day around 3:00 PM, got home from the grocery store and sat down on the couch for a rest. difficult child said Mom it looks funny outside you better look at it. I looked outside and saw a funnel cloud right down the street. There was no warning and there were no sirens. They call it some kind of cloud burst of some kind, but there were many of us who saw the tornado. It came right off the highway and into our neighborhood. 12 homes totally destroyed and 100 homes had damage. My home and the one next to me had absolutely nothing. We were the only two in the park that had absolutel no damage. I have a caldeum plant that was on my front porch, fairly delicate plant and it was not affected by it at all. Not one injury thank goodness. 40 people were gathered at a barbecue on the next block. They all made it to their homes and no one was hurt. Amazing. Fema, Red Cross, Sherriff's office have been helping and that was great. We were able to get out and help get some light twigs up. Can't lift much with back issues. We were evacuated for only one evening because of a gas main break.

difficult child alerted me and then as I told her where to go, the interior bathroom and jump in the tub, she said to me are you sure this is the safest place? I think your bathroom is better. Even during a tornado the kid questions me. Lol, I put her and the dog in the tub and I sat on the toilet lid and prayed, I heard trees snapping and breaking and at one time it sounded like the roof might blow away but it missed us. We have had a tornado drill down in every home we have lived in, I just couldnt believe she thought she knew better. She did grab her swimming goggles and put them on, lol. No MORE STORMS PLEASE.
 

Jody

Active Member
thank you it was very scary. Hope to never go thru that again. I feel so bad for the people who have gone thru this type of thing and have had devastation, loss and injury and death. How horrible.
 

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
Oh, my! And now I'll have to call my mom..............cuz you're not far from her really. (and no, she doesn't always inform me of such things until loooooong after the fact)

I'm glad your home was spared and that you all are safe.

I'm preparing my basement/root cellar for tornado season. I normally don't bother (I go under the stairs in the closet of the dining room but not many fit in there) but I have day care kids to worry about so have to have a safe place prepared for them to go and supplies in place that might be needed, not only practical ones such as food/water/flashlights Easy Child but coloring books/crayons and such to help them stay calm so I can hear what I need to hear. Know what I mean??

I think you've met your quota for a while Jody. I know how scary that had to have been in a trailer. been there done that. *shudder*

(((hugs)))
 

Jody

Active Member
I am not far at all, in fact I am right off the highway that would lead me to your moms. My neighbor had her 4 kids and a couple of neighbor kids over, and she looked out the window and saw it come right thru the trees right in front of her house, they crawled to the bathroom and all stayed in there until it was over with. She had a lot of trees down but none on her house. One poor guy, had a beautifully landscaped gardens and flag poles. He is a POW of Vietnam and he hung his flags very nicely around his house. His house is still there but nothing else. The park will look nice again I am sure of that, I am just so glad there were no injuries.
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
Lisa... while you're stocking that basement... if you don't have one already, see if you can pick up a "porta-potty" at a garage sale or something. It's more sanitary than a "pot", really easy to transport, and... well, let's just say that we're not getting rid of ours... it comes in handy for lots of reasons.
 

muttmeister

Well-Known Member
Glad you're ok. We've had some close calls here in the last few days but so far we've been lucky. I made the mistake of saying that my house is worth more demolished than standing so I imagine I am safe forever. LOL

Stay safe.
 

Jody

Active Member
Thank you. I am so thankful but this little part of me the selfish part is wishing that when I went home, I didnt have to see the ugliness of what happened. I was so proud of my new place. I will be again, but right now it just looks so bad. Even saying that in writing makes me feel small, but I tear up when I think of going home. I am going to see if I can take some starts off my plants to my neighbors for planting. Maybe that will help me in my mind about the whole thing. Tonight I am going to go pick up as long as I can. Today was our first day without any outside help from anywhere. I did see residents getting together this morning though, getting ready to work outside.
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
Jody - there's other ways to help. Like... can you work with another neighbor, and you can hold the bag open while they shovel stuff in? It's easier on your back... and way faster for them. Are there a couple other health-impaired people in the park? Can you get together with them and set up a little free "coffee station" for the others doing work? (coffee, water, and cookies, for example)
 

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
You will have it all nice again Jody :) I don't think that to feel that way is "selfish" per se, not like you're not grateful for what you have.......just you'd worked so hard and now you have to do it again. Understandable.

((hugs))
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Jody, I am so happy you are ok. Wow. How scary and what a close call. An angel was watching out for you!!!!

If we move to a mobile park, we are looking around to see the safest place to go to if they predict bad weather like that. We already decided that if there are any predictions of bad weather, we will spend the night with our son who will at least be in an apartment that probably has a basement or, if it happens quickly, run to our 24 hr. Walmart which is right across the street. And since we have such tiny dogs, **** it, we'd sneak them in and go in the bathroom...lol.

Are you in tornado alley?
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
Jody....whew, Im so glad you are okay! Scary things in mobile homes I know. I was watching on TV about those storm cellars. Maybe you could save up for a small one of those to be put in. I think a small one was only like 2 grand and maybe you could save up for that with tax money. Mobile homes are no where to be in any type of storms...I know.

Now Lisa, watch those yard sales for any types of helmets for you and the day care kids. Football helmets, bike helmets, even old motorcycle helmets. There are studies out by the CDC that helmets are known to save people's lives in tornado's because they keep head injuries to a minimum.
 

Jody

Active Member
i think that is a good idea, and I think a lot of people will be thinking about that with the way the weather has gotten lately. Yes I think I'll get a couple helmets at garage sales just in case.
 
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