Well, like Anita said, we are all safe, but we do have a bit of damage. Tornados are so scary and it came on us so fast! I knew that we were expecting storms that night and they had said that conditions were very favorable for tornados - guess for once the weathermen were right!
I was actually on the DIS when I heard the sirens going off. I went outside and looked around and didn't see anything that looked bad, it wasn't even raining, but I did turn on the news and start watching. They were concentrating on other areas of the city, not really focusing much on where we live, so I thought we were ok, then the sirens went off again. I went back outside and looked around, saw a cloud swirling that I just did not like the looks of. I had the boys grab a bunch of blankets and pillows and go into a small bathroom that we have in the center of the house (no exterior walls or windows) and before I could even grab the dog and the portable radio our power went out and the tornado was on the ground. I got into the bathroom with the boys, but the dog wouldn't come, she was just standing in the living room barking.
It was over very quickly, just a couple of minutes. We went outside and tried to figure out what we lost. The kids basketball goal is bent in half, the batting cage was all torn to pieces - broke off all the posts right at the ground and just thew the whole thing aside. We have some roof damage, quite a few shingles missing. About half of the wood on the underside of our covered front porch was all pulled away and gone so we had insulation coming out of the attic. We also have a few broken fence panels. Thankfully, even with all that, none of it is too serious!
I called Don in Dallas and he came home. He put up temporary paneling on the front porch to keep water and critters out of the attic, now we just have to wait for the insurance adjuster before we can make any repairs. They are supposed to be out on Saturday so we can get moving on them after that.
Our power came on sometime last night. I had come by after school (we were staying with my Mom) to pick up Justin's baseball uniform and the power was still out then, but Don called the house while we were at the ballpark last night and the answering machine picked up, so we knew the power was back - yippee! I'm impressed with how fast they got it back on, there were probably around 15 broken or uprooted electrical poles within a couple of miles of our house.
I had really hoped to have my TR going by now, it shouldn't be too much longer - thanks for your patience!