Tornadoes Twisting by . . .

. . . but narrowly miss us and our home. We considered taking the kids to "the cave" (the storage area under the stairs) and praying that the high winds would cause heavy damage to the upper level of the home (but of course not causing damage to any of us), but we thought that might not be appropriate. So, we decided to be defiant and just sleep in our regular beds by the windows on the upper level of the home. When they told us (just before midnight) that the storm was really close and traveling at 55 mph, I went out onto the porch to see if I could see it, with the intention of running up and waking up the kids if I saw it coming. I didn't see any sign of the tornado (no really strong winds in our neighborhood), so I walked back into the home only to hear the next words out of the weatherman's mouth saying, "This is the real thing. Do NOT go outside and try to watch for the tornado. Get to the basement or the lowest level of your home away from all windows." (oops, oops, and oops). At least we weren't camping this time. What can I say? I didn't want to wake the kids!

Meanwhile, at least 6 tornadoes touched down in the immediate area causing at least 3 deaths, heavy damage to a local high school, kicking a couple cars around, and knocking over several homes.