We're not in Kansas anymore Toto...

There’s nothing like waiting for a natural disaster to strike. You know it can turn out to be nothing or it can be catastrophic. Your only option is to do what you can to prepare and then wait and see. I love those moments. I am one of those freaks that loves inclement weather. There’s nothing cooler than watching a thunder storm build up momentum and put on a lightning storm that makes one wonder how people don’t believe in God. Having lived in the Southern states most of my life, I am no stranger to impending natural disasters. I’ve ridden out more hurricanes than I can count and tornado warnings are a natural part of severe weather warnings. We watch the weather channel religiously during those times and smile and nod knowingly as it skips past us or dies out before it gets here. Hence my lackadaisical attitude this past Saturday, April 16^th. Never again…

It wasn’t the wind or the rain or even the dark skies that told me this was more than a practice run. It wasn’t even the screaming bullhorn of the weather alerts that were repeatedly interrupting the weather reports I was on TV. It wasn’t even the panic in the reports voice who was frantically reporting that a tornado had touched down in Sanford, wiped out 30 homes and flattened a Lowe’s Hardware. I thought “Sanford’s 30 miles away from here so I’m safe.” The thing that made me pack my most precious possessions in garbage bags and stick them in my backpack was my dog. I have an 11 yr. old retriever and she flipped out. I had the sliding glass door open to my balcony before the storm actually hit so I could watch the skies better and she would run out there and bark her head off and run into me and bark frantically. This was repeated over and over. Finally, I decided to peek out my front door and what I saw scared the life out of me. The sky was kind of dark but the winds… the winds were straight from hell. I had to push with all my might just to get my door open and saw people being blown around the parking lot, along with lawn furniture and garbage cans. In the distance I saw clouds coming to far down and too fast for them to be rain. I saw debris flying. I shut my door to go get my camera and when I came back to the door, there was Lilly, standing between me and the door and she wouldn’t move. I finally shoved her aside but by then I couldn’t get my front door open so I grabbed the backpack, put it on my back, and shoved Lilly in the tub and followed her in there. I left the sliding door open just in case it hit my building so it wouldn’t blow out the windows and I could hear the winds and the storm come crashing down.

The storm eventually bypassed us and less than a mile up the road smashed into Holly Springs, tearing up roads and homes. It then moved into Raleigh and wreaked havoc like I have never seen before in my life. A man I go to church with lost everything. Several other people I go to church with suffered extensive damage to their property. Yesterday I rode through the campus of Shaw University and it has so much damage they have suspended classes for the rest of the semester. NC State's campus had some damage but nothing like Shaw's.

I am 2 days past this disaster and yet, while sitting in traffic yesterday, emergency crew workers came racing up the road and my first response was to look toward the sky. I never thought I'd say this but I was actually happy to see the color Carolina Blue painted across the skyline.