Our weekend started out great. We got settled in the cabin on Friday night without a hitch. Saturday the weather was great. Got some beautiful pictures, the girls got to hink to the cave and around the lake. A deer came up to the cabin right before breakfast and looked in the window. I tried to get a picture but one of the girls triped over a chair trying to get a better look and startled her. I think I got a shot as she ran up the hill behind the cabin, but have to wait for the film to be sure. We had lunch down at the locks and dam on the Ohio River- no traffic while we were there, but after we came back from our clearance shopping trip to Wal-Mart (yes, it was part of our camping trip) the Natchez was going through the locks. The girls were impressed - a great experience. After supper I taught the girls how to make paperbag albums. They had a great time and were so creative. I got some great ideas from them in the process. They settled in after smores and ghost stories, then our eventful night began. My sister called me on the cell phone at 2:30 am to let me know Newburgh, IN had been hit by a tornado with at least 10 deaths and it was heading up river in our direction. She said she would stay up and watch the news and call if we were in danger.I got the other adults up and we went over emergency plans and packed up an emergency kit before going back to sleep. At 3:45 the storm started - thunder, lightening and lots of wind. A tree or very large branch fell up the hill behind the cabin and at 4 the sirens went off. We got the girls up and had them put on their shoes, grab their sleeping bag and head for the basement of the cabin. Thank goodness all we ended up getting was getting the wind and thunder storm. The tornado shifted and hit Warrick county (Booneville). We did spend an hour huddled in our sleeping bags in a dark, dank basement waiting for the storm to pass. But we were lucky. Not so with the people of Vanderburgh (Evansville) and Warrick counties in Indiana. Last I heard there were 21 confirmed deaths, 30 in critical care and several still missing. One of my sisters lives within a half mile of the trailer park that was destroyed and another sister lives about a mile away. My DS lives about a mile from Ellis Park and didn't even know anything had happened until the next day. I pray for those affected by this devastation, and especially for those who have lost love ones. Sandy
- posted
18 years ago