We SURVIVED our first...and hopefully last TORNADO!

Its true, at about 2:00pm on February 10, 2009 Mike and I were sitting on the couch watching television when we heard a noise outside our window that sounded like the Tornado Warning Signal! The only other time I have heard this signal is on Saturday afternoon at 12:00 pm when they do the weekly test! Suddenly panic began to rise inside of me and I felt extremely worried! We quickly turned the tv to a local news station to find out that there was a tornado warning for Oklahoma City and its surrounding areas! It storm that could likely turn into a tornado was about 10 miles North of us...in the city where some of our good friends live! As we watched the news report, they were asking people to get to their shelters, to get away from windows and brace themselves for a tornado. Mike had to leave for work at 3:00pm so I was really anxious to be at home by myself...but I knew what to do if the tornado started coming my way. Pretty soon the storm headed north east of us and we were out of the warning area. As I continued to watch the tv, two more tornados appeard on the map...but all were at least 10-15 miles from me...thank goodness! The local news stations stated that there hasn't been a tornado in February since 2000...we must bring good luck to Oklahoma! Tornado season does not actually start until April! As most of you know, the third tornado absolutely devistated a city called Lone Grove and killed nine people, along with hundreds of injuries and a lot of damage to buildings, streets and power lines! I am truly grateful that Mike and I were not in the line of this tornado. It really opened our eyes to what "being prepared" truly means! We have made a goal to have two 24 hour packbacks in case of an emergency...because you just never know! Our thoughts and prayers are with those who suffered any kind of loss from this tornado!

* Our area of Oklahoma City where we live did not get hit with any tornados..but did get hit with severe thunderstorms, wind and huge hail (reports were made of baseball size hail in parts of the city!)....so these pictures are ones that I found on the internet!