The Tempest in my Backyard - With pictures

The Tempest, by William Shakespeare.

Be not afeard: the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight, and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears; and sometimes voices,
That, if I then had wak’d after long sleep,
Will make me sleep again: and then, in dreaming,
The clouds methought would open and show riches
Ready to drop upon me; that, when I wak’d
I cried to dream again.

I had been napping for a couple of hours when I was woken up by something that sounded like an explosion. Then it repeated itself and I instantly saw out of the french doors to the back porch from my bedroom that it was pitch black, the rain was htting my house from the side, lightening was going off about every second, things were flying by, there was a dull roar, and the house was shaking! All of that took about two seconds to figure out and I beelined to the other end of the house and down the steps praying the whole way that the house wouldn't fall on me while I ran. I could see the palm tress being violently pitched through the other windows of the house as I made my way to the only place I was thinking might be safe. I sprained my ankle a little flying down the steps. It was like the house was under attack. I wondered if this was IT, the end! As I stood in the center of the bathroom downstairs ready to dive into the tub, I kept tabs on the noises and they were very slightly dissapating. Five minutes later and it had moved on.

We lost power, phone and cable.

I made a few pictures but because it looked like another storm was moving in I mostly spent the next few hours cleaning up.

I believe this tornado formed right behind my house and the neighbors on either side took it worse than I did.

One neighbor had their entire metal fence around their back yard broken off and it is pushed out by the weight of the jasmine vines growing on it. It is an L shape fence and it is bent out on both sides. The other neighbor had a very large old tree fall over and miss his back porch to crush his fence and fill up most of his back yard.

I lost some shingles, trees, had stuff that was in the back yard end up in the front yard and in the neighbors across the street's yards and other minor damages.  It pushed the jet-skis on the trailer down the driveway,  ripped a gutter into, scattered trash that had been secured under the house in bins all over the place after moving them to the front of the driveway, and one of my metal tables ended up in the neighbor's yard. I'm looking at these pictures and it doesn't look so bad. And compared to what might have happened it wasn't! I feel so thankful and so lucky to have come out of this with only what I have wrong.

Thank you God! 

 Copyright 2014 Wanda Hope Carter all rights not otherwise assigned are reserved.