First came the Severe Thunderstorm Warning. It was only 6:15 p.m., but was nearly dark outside. The wind began blowing incredibly hard. Then came the dust storm. Like something out of the 1930's, I swear. Then the lightning. Normally I get totally jazzed about watching thunderstorms -- especially lightning, but last night it was sooo intense! Cloud to ground "fat" lightning; the kind that keeps going for like 4 seconds without stopping. My daughter and I were on our porch watching the sky, when suddenly a bolt of lightning came down about 2 blocks from here. It was blinding. Then the clap of thunder came right on top of it, and it was deafening. Simultaneously with the lightning bolt, our power went out. My husband got in the car and followed my son downtown to park his car (1969 Camaro) under the overpass to protect it, and I went out a little ways (I know, it was stupid) to look down the street. Visibility was practically nil, but I saw what I would swear was a funnel cloud. It scared me. It gave me an instantaneous flashback to my tornado nightmares -- it looked just like it. I ran back inside, and just then the tornado sirens began sounding. My daughter, once again (just like 3 weeks ago), went with my sister and nephew to the storm shelter in the County Courthouse. I stayed home to wait for my husband and son. I called my Mom to try and reassure her. She was terrified. I told her everything would be okay, and that I thought it would pass over very soon.

The all-clear came about 45 minutes to an hour later. Apparently 2 funnels had been spotted. I don't know if they touched down anywhere or not; but I do know that there are huge branches blown down all over town. My neighbor across the street had a giant one lying in his back yard. Either lightning or a mighty gust of wind split a tree in half in front of McDonalds. For at least 2 hours afterward there were fire truck and police sirens blowing all over town. I'm sure the lightning started some fires, not to mention the tree problems and stuff.

The power finally came back on at 8:12 p.m. How do I know the precise time? Because I was getting pretty mad that I was missing "For Love or Money" and kept looking at my watch. lol We were standing out in our yard looking at the incredibly beautiful rainbow when our neighbor shouted "Yay, we have power!" :) Oh, and as the sun began to set, it shone on the tree tops and made them glisten. It was completely breathtaking! Even my 19 year old son stood out in the street amazed by the beauty of it all. :)

Then I ran inside and watched the rest of the show. I only missed 12 minutes. *wink*

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