Last night was definitely a wild night. My anxiety level was beyond overload thanks to my massive storm phobia. I had been following all the stories of devastation across the South as the storms headed out way, so I was good and freaked out before they even hit us.
Thankfully the storms started to break down when they hit the mountains, and we were saved from the brunt of it. A little after 12:30am the tornado warnings started going off. I loaded up the little one and took her to my Grandparent’s house next door since they have a basement. When we walked outside I had an eerie feeling run over me. Everything seemed a bit too calm, and even though it was dark the sky still had a weird color to it. The lights from the church a half mile away were reflecting off the clouds and showing weird green and yellows. I just felt like a tornado was near. Hubby didn’t think it was bad enough to camp out in the basement though, so he stayed home. Thankfully the storms skirted off to the north of us leaving us with a lot of wind and lightning (where a tornado was reported 5 miles from our house), and we were able to return home around 2am.
I feel for all the families caught in the devastation created by these storms before they reached us. I have spent a lot of time praying for the families that have lost loved ones and those that have no home to return to after this mess. I’m also very thankful our family in Alabama made it through unscathed.
Update 4/30/11: Even though our family members are ok we have learned many of the other families in their small community of Mount Hope, Alabama were not so lucky. Many many farms were destroyed, entire families are in pretty bad shape in the hospital, and others have lost loved ones. There is massive destruction in the area, and they will be without utilities for at least 45 days. Gas, food, and supplies are scarce to say the least, and the one operating gas station is using generators to offer gas, but it is rationed. Many of the businesses in this small town have been destroyed, and most others are not operational without power. This means these families will have no income for at least 45 days on top of dealing with losing their homes and even family members.
The area has been blocked off by National Guard, and only residents with ID cards that were handed out are allowed in. Red Cross and FEMA has passed this town by because their help is required in the larger cities of Birmingham and Tuscaloosa. Please keep these families in your prayers, and if you have the means to donate anything at all please consider these small towns that aren’t receiving help from the outside! There are many small towns like this in Alabama that suffered, but there just isn’t enough help to get to them all! I am in the process of setting up a donation fund to supply needed items to Mount Hope.
I will update with information as soon as I have that available. If you are able to help in anyway please consider donating funds to supply these families! My husband and mother-in-law will be purchasing as many items as possible and transporting them to Mount Hope in the coming weeks. Because we have family there they can gain access to the blocked off areas to deliver much needed donations!
Anyone who knows me personally knows most of my storm phobia revolves around tornadoes. I believe my phobia stems from my Mom’s phobia of the same thing. Anytime a storm rolled through while my Dad was at work, no matter the size of it, she would load us up and take us to my Grandparent’s house. My Dad worked swing shifts, so stormy nights were spent at my Grandparent’s house as well. Over the years my phobia increased, and it became impossible for me to stay home alone during a thunderstorm even when the conditions aren’t right for a tornado. At that first clap of thunder I panic, and my anxiety takes over.
As a child I remember sitting in the hallway of our mobile home crying while my Mom sang to me to try to calm me down and my Dad stood in the front door watching for a tornado in case we needed to get our quickly. Whenever I hear a tornado warning my anxiety level hits about 20, and that memory pops into my head. My Grandparent’s house has always been my safe haven, and I believe it’s because that’s where we went when were children…although then they lived in the house I live in now. Mentally I connect them with safety, not the house they lived in, so even today their house is where it’s safe. Of course today their house is safer. They have a basement. We have a small dirt cellar dug out beneath the house, and it’s almost impossible to get to.
I know it’s a phobia, and it’s one I hope to eventually overcome. I hate knowing that my own phobia could impact my daughter. I don’t want her to grow up fearing something just because I do. I’ve read many articles about children developing phobias not only because a parent suffers from it, but on a worse level. I really don’t want that happening, and I want to take steps to avoid it which includes overcoming my own fears.
