Tornado on Wednesday--Sunday

Okay, the pics are not visible and no one in BAM knows how to get into them. The woman in BAM yesterday said she knew how to do it so you could see a link. Obviously, she does not. I welcome directions about how to make the folder clickable. I can put them on one pic at a time, but am too exhausted and pressed for time to do so.

Now that I have a generator and gas can, it seems I cannot afford to feed the generator. No place in town is helping with gas. It is all for sale. Ice is plentiful and free, thanks to Walmart.

I hope I am not repeating myself below.

On Wed, my friend Donna called me begging me to take cover. She is 70 miles away and heard a tornado was heading for Cullman. According to her and the radio, it was still 20 miles away, so I did not panic because no one really knew or said it was heading here, not on local radio. I was stirring food in the kitchen when I heard the roar, horrible, terrifying roar and knew that was the "freight train" sound. I ran as I heard the radio announcer yelled frantically--"Take cover, take shelter, we can see it out the front door of the station. Take cover now. It's right on Cullman, downtown, whereever you are, take shelter now. It has hit Cullman, take cover take cover NOW. "

I snagged my purse as I ran and could see the computer screen was blinking on and off, along with the lights. I burst into the bath where exbf was taking a bath after doing some work for me. As I put my hand on the wall, I felt the walls of my house vibrating. physically, I am not afraid of much in my world. I live in a safe town, safe neighborhood, and stay out of bad places. I suppose fear keeps me in safe places...lol.

When he got out of the tub, the first thing I did was bathe and wash my hair. Good thing--today, Sunday, I washed my hair for the first time since Wed, and in cold water. That was the last warm water to touch my body anywhere.

(Why I always have exbf here. He is not husband material (58 and never married or really close to a woman until me) and dumped me.  LOL...and I did not know anything was wrong.  But, he said he would help me as long as I needed him. He is basically a very good man. He comes and bails water from swimming pools where roof leaks and has for ages. He carries things for me, mows yard, cleans up around outside...generally does heavy things. It sounds weird to always say "exbf is here." At least, that is what an internet friend told me. I just wanted to explain.

Yes, any soul on earth who was in my safe room/bathroom doing anything would find me bursting into the bathroom, my safe room. He endured it and sat there as the tornado roared over. I had him put his hand on the wall and feel how my house was vibrating.

I ran to see if the hens were dead or sucked from their pen. All was intact. I wonder where they went twhen the wind came. They have an overturned garbage can and to hide in and two rubbermaid boxes, stacked. They did not seem perturbed.

We left in the car to see what happened, and were both shocked. Courthouse, ambulance service, half dozen churches, old German bank, and many, many historic buildings are gone or beyond repair. All of a sudden, police appeared and ordered us back.

That night, it was so dark, as I mentioned. I listened to ambulances. Many times after dark, I had the thought that I needed to turn on a light and reached for the light switch.

I will start putting pictures on at the end of this blog.

Sunday--Yesterday, unexpectedly, the electricity came back on in the North part of town. Unfortunately, it was about six blocks west of me and six blocks north of me.

This morning--as I went to feed the hens, I thought the generator sounded especially loud. I looked up in my stupor and saw what appeared to be a utility truck. I staggered out to the edge of the retaining wall and peered through the growth. I told them I was not trying to hurry them at all, but was wondering if I would have electricity soon. One guy said--let me go see, I'll walk around here. While he was gone, I asked the guys where they were from--Texas. The other guy came back in one of our utility trucks. He said there was lots of damage just around the corner from me, so I would have to wait. He apologized. I tried to sound cheerful and said--okay, just curious. take your time.

What these guys see--There is my raggedy house, raggedy yard, and then raggedy me. I had slept in  pants with huge holes and my hair was matted. The dirty, nasty hair mat that comes in the morning when hair desperately needs washing. I suppose I was a fright. My hens don't care as long as I bring food and talk with them and let them out into the yard. Just call me the hen lady.

Now, to see if I can put on pictures. Well, I know I can, but there are so many and I am soooo tired.

The three gray pair of pants are dry. Today, I gave two pair of black pants a vinegar soak in the pot outdoors. It is supposed to rain tonight, so they will need to be brought inside.