Tragic Storm Damage...updated

A picture from the front page of today's newspaper.

That's my dear SIL in the peach

(and she is a PEACH)

Last night at around 9pm my niece called me on the phone, I could barely understand what she was saying....my SIL's house was struck by a tornado. My nephew was still in the house in the basement, so it was a very nerve wracking evening. The storms came in so fast, we hardly had time to prepare, but thankfully everyone is safe and sound. My nephew got out with just a few cuts and bruises, but safe. My SIL and their family lost their house in the storm, and it will be a long journey until they can be back to "normal" - so I ask that you keep them in your prayers as they recover from the storm. And thank you Lord that everyone is safe this morning.

UPDATED - 8/5/08 - 10:41pm

I went over to see the house today to get a first-hand look at the storm damage. It is so much worse than I expected. The entire subdivision looks like a war zone. People are busy working, cleaning up debris and sawing pieces of tree down to manageable sizes. It is a very sad sight, I was pretty stunned walking down the street toward SIL's house, but when they actually took me to see the inside, I got emotional. I kept thinking how lucky they are that everyone is safe, and couldn't help but wonder if the man upstairs knew exactly where they should be. They were at church helping out for their summer festival when the storm hit. Coincidence? Hmmmm....

My SIL is really heart broken, and I can understand, it was hard to see her home destroyed, so many memories, it's hard not to let it get to you....and if you knew my SIL you know that she was spared for a reason - she is truly an angel....and my niece is a doll.

We will continue to keep them in our prayers as they try to return to somewhat of a normal life.

Notice the large trees behind the house are now just a few branches bare and broken...

This is a view of their backyard standing on the deck. I was sad to see that the huge tree that was the one they used to hang the pinata during family gatherings, and all of the kids would gather in anticipation to see how much candy they could fill in their saks, was pulled out roots and all.....

I took a picture of her living room, the wall was already boarded up when I got to see the it but that wall was wide open - the tornado tore that entire wall out. We couldn't actually stand in the room because the ceiling is cracked and looked like it could cave in at any moment.

Look how the tornado ripped this huge tree
right out of the ground.... root, curb, and all!

This is part of the front of the house boarded up - I'm told there were huge pieces of wood boards that went right through those windows and into the bedrooms.

Keep them in your prayers....