Night of the Twister

So this past week Branson was hit with its first tornado ever. There have been floods and bad storms, but never anything like we experienced. I went to bed after a long day of rehearsals and dancing and was out for the count. The next thing I know I was jarred awake by shattered glass and my front door slamming open. Charlie dog ran into my room and I grabbed him quickly and ran into the bathroom where we huddled in the shower.
The sound that came was indescribable. They say it sounds like a freight train, but I don’t even think that covers it. This deafening noise came quickly and the walls all started to shake as the tornado passed by my house. It all happened so quickly I was in disbelief. I paused for a few moments after it passed and then got out of the bathroom to go and check on everything. I pushed away the glass so I could open get out of my door and looked out at my car which had a tree on top of it. It was still raining pretty hard at this point so I grabbed my jacket and put Charlie back in the bathroom while I went to survey the damage to my car and my neighbor Rachael’s The branches of the tree had formed an arch over my car causing the actual trunk to stop about 4 inches from my car. The only damage I had to it was a small crack in the windshield the size of a dollar. My friend Rachael’s car had no damage either.
The rain finally stopped and after texting and talking to several people to make sure they were ok, Rachel and I decided to take a walk downtown to check on Starbucks where she works downtown. Of course coffee was on the mind at a time like this. Lol. It was the most eerie sight. Debris everywhere, power was completely out. I saw furniture and toys and pieces of houses all over the place. Trees completely uprooted and tossed onto houses. Power poles snapped in two. The Hilton hotel downtown was eerily lit by the flashing emergence lights in all of its rooms. The windows had been shattered out of most of them. So see the area that I normally walk Charlie every day completely obliterated was baffling.
After the walk I went back home and tried to get some sleep before work the next day. Thankfully no one I worked with had too much damage. The tornado went about 22 miles and destroyed many businesses and homes in the area. I am so thankful that my house was spared.
After a week of hard work and long long hours from countless workers the town is getting back on its feet. Its amazing to me how much work has been done in such a short time. Yea, there are still lots of damages and places to clean up, but the town itself is fully functional again already.
Situations like this remind me of how small we are and how things can change at a moments notice. We are truly not in control and dependent on the one who is. I am so thankful for the protection provided to myself and all the other residents of this area. It could have been a lot worse! Blessed to be alive.