I spoke with my lifelong friend on Friday — thankfully. You see, she lives in Greeley and two of her grown daughters and their families and her own mother all live in Windsor, where the tornado was on Thursday, the 22nd. I’d been trying to get a hold of her since Thursday and was getting very worried when it took so long to reach her. When I finally spoke to her, I listened to a very harrowing story, indeed.

She sounded exhausted and in shock, beginning her story with the words “You just wouldn’t believe it”. The tornado tracked toward Windsor by way of Greeley, Gilcrest and Platteville. It first skirted the western edge of Greeley, which is precisely where she lives. She said she was watching the weather channel when they announced “an enormous and deadly tornado heading towards Windsor, Colorado”. Of course she freaked and immediately went to the phone to call her daughters and mother, but oh no, she couldn’t get through to them! The storm had already taken down electrical and phone lines, rendering her helpless in her quest to warn her family. She said that I had no idea how horrific it is to know something potentially deadly to your family is heading straight for them and you can do nothing to warn them. I agreed. I have no idea how horrible that would be. I can only imagine, and even that scares me to death.

Well anyway, knowing my friend as I do, it did not surprise me in the least when she told me what she did next: she got in her car and drove to Windsor, only to be stopped by police and told she could not enter. Yeah, right dude. You obviously don’t know my friend! She took her car and found a place where she could leave it, locked it up and began walking. She walked for miles, crossing fields, a stream and even a river to get to her kids! She snuck in behind police lines without being detected. Yep, that’s Kathy! Now, she’s not in the best physical condition (severe back and neck problems), but like any mother, nothing was about to stop her. She finally got there and found her daughters together at the younger’s house, because the older’s house was destroyed. She told her mother her own harrowing story of only having mere seconds to grab her 2 1/2 year old and her dog and run downstairs to a closet before “a freight train went through my house”. She was crying very hard, as you can imagine. She and her son are both very traumatized, as is her 12 year old daughter who was in school at the time and thought her family had been killed. Her husband, when racing home from his workplace, was immediately put to work by the police and National Guard (because he’s a Guardsman himself), and wasn’t allowed to even go home for a few minutes to check on his family. It was a while before he could get to Katie’s house (the younger sister) to check on everyone. As you can imagine, it was very difficult for him to concentrate on his work without knowing exactly how his own family was!

No one had power and were living with candles and, if they were lucky enough, generators. They were all just very thankful they were alive. I have not spoken with her since Friday. I asked her to please keep me updated when possible. I can only imagine how busy they have all been trying to clean up and find even a few of their belongings strewn about, if they can. They have to board up the house as best they can. One wall is completely gone, and her kitchen cupboards and refrigerator completely disappeared. It’s just so unbelievably amazing.

I’ve put together a few of what I consider to be the best videos of the tornado and its aftermath for you, if you haven’t seen any already. I think you’ll agree that it is utterly amazing. Mother Nature definitely has a temper.

Tornadoes, Windsor Tornado, Colorado Tornado