Thursday, April 3, 2008

Seek Shelter Immediately!

It was about 5pm...so luckily Andrew was home from work. All of the sudden it starts pouring rain, and the tornado sirens start to blow. Luckily there is a siren 30 yards from our house...so they were LOUD and clear!

"This is a tornado warning. Seek shelter immediately."


I turned off the computer, grabbed a blanket, camera, and cell phone...and we headed out to our garage to our storage unit. We live in a one-level house, so without a basement, this is where we had been told to go. We had a few folding chairs in the middle of the room...surrounded by boxes and storage.

As we looked around, we were thankful to realize this is where our 72 hours kits are, our camping gear, some water, our little propane grill...and some dental models to keep our boys entertained. :) Things we wished we had...our ipod to watch a movie, our backup DVD's of all our digital pictures, and our scrapbooks. All things I couldn't stand to loose!

The sirens continued....then the announcement, "A tornado has been spotted in Mascoutah, less than 5 miles from Scott Air Force Base...it is heading TOWARD base. Seek shelter immediately."

Ok, now my heart was pumping a little. I called to tell my mom. Then Andrew said, "Should we say a prayer."
Cooper said, "Why?"
"So Heavenly Father will know we want to be protected."
"Sure."
So Andrew said the prayer. Then Cooper asked, "Now Heavenly Father won't let the twisty twisty wind get us?"
Andrew answered, "He'll do what's best."
"But He'll protect us?"
"He'll do whatever is best Cooper."
"I know he'll protect us."
"You have great faith Cooper."

I got a little teary eyed at the faith of my little guy, until he broke the moment by saying, "And Heavenly Father can make to tornado get all the bad guys' houses!" :)

About a half hour later the sirens stopped, and we opened the shelter to find 2 inches of water outside the door on our garage floor! It had to have rained 4 inches in 30 minutes! It was a good drill for us. We will start making double back-ups of our pictures TODAY, shop for an external hard drive this weekend, and make triple copies of our DVDs of pictures to send home with our parents to keep at a separate location. We also need to get some good backpacks to put our 72 hour kits in...they are just in sealed bags right now. We need to put some more water out there too. It made for a good Family Home Evening lesson Monday night!

19 comments:

The Bentley's said...

holy cow cass!!! i had no idea.. that prayer was really cute... and funny about the bad guys:) i'm glad your safe!

Summer said...

That is so crazy!!! I think tornados are the scariest things! I'm glad that it all worked out well - and of course Cooper had me laughing : )

Unknown said...

That is my worst nightmare! I was getting nervous just reading your post. I will have to do a few of those things you suggested as well. Glad you guys are okay.

gregandlaura said...

Wow - Thats scary!! So glad everything is ok!

Morgan Greaves said...

That is seriously my worst nightmare. A small tornado hit my family's house about 8 years ago and I know exactly what you mean about how much it rains it such a short time! In a matter of 20 minutes we had a few inches of water covering our lawn. The prayer was adorable and I am glad you guys are safe!

GoatesGirl said...

OH your little guys are so cute! Glad you're safe.

Alison Day said...

Wow! I can't believe that. I am glad you posted that to remind me I NEED to get my photos backed up again too! I am glad you guys are okay!

Sydney said...

Oh, we'd be doomed. We have nothing- no water, no kits, no back-ups, nothing! Thanks for the story and lesson, I'll be getting on some of that same stuff ASAP!

Glad you're safe and that all you got was rain!

Tiff Gatten said...

Wow, you sound like you’re really prepared for next time. Scary though. You gave me some great ideas. Thanks for the nice words about my race….it sucked! I do have an amazing husband though, love him to death. It sounds like you are married to a phenomenal dentist. I’ve just had really bad experiences with dentists. But, I’m going today. He seems like a good guy though. He even has a blog page. He was happy to be on mine. Take care. I’m anxiously awaiting your baby news. Good luck.

wurstens5 said...

How scary. That is so cute what cooper said. They are so innocent. Glad you are all safe as well.

Brooke G said...

WOW!!! Something you hope you never have to go through. Was there much damage when the twister landed 5 miles away? My kids are always worried about tornados, but I always try to tell them we don't have them here, but scary for your kids! That is amazing, and good you realized what you need to do to be prepared!

Brynne said...

Wow!! It really does make you realize that you need to be prepared TODAY. Things could happen any minute. Thanks for sharing your experience...glad you're okay!!

adrianne s. said...

So scary! We can learn so much from the faith of children. We have had warnings here too, but we live kind of rurally and we can't hear the sirens. The severe weather seems to come at us in the middle of the night. Last time Jared stayed up to watch the news for the warnings and just as the storm hit our town the power went out. Jared decided that that meant that it was okay to go to bed- good thing I was awake and made him stay up too! I am glad you are all okay! Like you said, good drill to know what you need to prepare.

Danna said...

Oh my gosh, that is so scary! You guys have the most eventful lives. I am glad you were at least somewhat prepared, and now if there is a next time, you will be really prepared. Glad you are safe! The Easter pictures are cute!

Kristin said...

How scary! I can't even imagine! Glad to hear you guys are all safe and sound! Cooper is too cute!

Tracey said...

I'm glad it all worked out okay... you'd better put some sterile blankets and a book about delivering a baby out there just in case... okay, that's not even funny... I can't even imagine that I will start praying that it never happens to you!!! I'm glad you guys are okay and had a good lesson afterward!

Amber said...

Ok, this really made me think. I needed a reminder to have my 72 hour kits etc ready, so thanks. How scary for you guys, glad you had somewhere to go and some stuff in there for you. I know we don't get tornados here, but you never know what we could end up with someday...maybe an earthquake. Sounds like what Cooper says is just sooo cute, and both your boys are adorable. Can't wait to see #3!

Rachel said...

Cassie, I grew up in Illinois and we had tornadoes every year. They used to freak me out so bad when I was a little kid. What sweet kids you have! I loved that little conversation. YOu guys are so prepared, I wouldn't know what to grab. We really have to get it together! Glad you guys are safe!

Carrie Anne said...

Your story brings back so many memories of tornado drills at school, running into our basement...it can be so scary! Your Easter looks like it was so much fun! Such cute boys! I cannot believe how close you are to having your baby! Holy cow that went SO FAST! WOW!