I live around this area, and last year the sirens went off on 3 different days. That year, it was the first time I have ever heard it when it wasnt a test day. Neither one had a confirmed tornado in the town. This may be why some people ignored the threat, boy who cried wolf and all. But tornado or not, one of the sirens did alarm for a storm that had VERY damaging hail, and winds strong enough to blow out windows, tear off roofs, and BEND steel traffic light poles and signs.

I was parking my car when they alarm went off. I dropped what I was doing, didnt even get the mail, and went inside. When the alarm goes off, you have a 0-15 minutes to prepare. I threw my stuff on the floor, grabbed my phone and got in the tub. Once I was safe, I called my mommy  Not because Im a wuss or anything, but 5 minutes before, we were together talking about how the conditions were right for a tornado, and with her driving in a car, I wasnt sure if she could hear it (I really cant hear it indoors, and when it rains, theres no way I can hear it at all.) I had to let her go though, because apparently she drove right through it, and several roads to her home were blocked with trees. That and cell phone + storm + driving, not a good combo. I dont think it had even started to rain here yet when I talked to her.

One of the bad things about not being able to hear the alarm well is 1) you wont hear it when youre asleep, 2) you wont hear it if theres rain, hail, or strong winds. 3) you wont hear it turn off. After 30-45minutes I risked leaving the safest place in my house to check the weather on the computer. The tornado warning was going to expire in like 5 minutes. I grabbed my rain coat to check the damage (light rain) and I noticed that my neighbor had done the unthinkable… …when I dropped everything and ran inside due to the siren and green sky, he apparently had gone outside, put a tarp over his car, covering his windshield. His car was completely exposed to the elements had they been more severe, and if there had been quarter to baseball sized hail, his windsheild would still be cracked. So really, he risked his life for nothing, and there WAS a confirmed tornado 2 blocks away! Comforters really are the only way to go… …but due to the siren, I had no time, its not worth it, and people should know that.

Anyway, it doesnt look like we suffered any damage. I had one small branch, and then a couple of dead twigs. The power flickered a bit, then dimmed for a second or two. The power really didnt go off until after the second wave of stormed hit, which turned off my power several times about 5am, then at one point, two of my rooms remained without power until I was able to flip the circuit breaker back on. The storms were so loud that it not only woke me up, but I couldnt go back to sleep. And because they were so loud I knew that I wouldnt be able to hear the siren even if there was one. When the sun started to rise, I could see that the sky was the same color as before, and went back to the tub just in case. After I gave up with that I went back to bed and kept hearing police toot their sirens on and off. Im sure the storm blew over several objects onto the street.

I tried calling my mom Wednesday night, since she never called me back after she reached a safe place. She wouldnt answer her phone, and her home phone wouldnt go to the answering machine. I just assumed the lines were down, and called my brother who was working at grapevine mills. He hadnt heard from her, and there was some flooding on one side of the mall. His side just had leaky ceilings. Eventually I reached her on her cell phone and she told me how so many of the roads were blocked due to down trees. Because of this she spent the worse of this outside.

Her neighborhood was without power for almost 24 hours, as it was finally turned back on Thursday evening, even though several people were out there working on it all day. Her fence was blown down, as well as many many trees. None were uprooted despite how several neighbors were. But one was completely split in half and twisted (still standing)

Again, Im surprised at how well I made out. There was definitely some sort of rotation going on. My mothers fence fell westward, while her neighbors bench fell eastward