It’s been a long night. I live in Eustis, Florida where a tornado blew through at about 11 p.m. Fortunately, our house was untouched. But right now there are news helicopters flying directly over my house as they shoot the damaged areas a short walk from my driveway.
Furious storms were whipping through the area late in the night when my wife and heard a change in the wind. It was a forceful howling that made us feel it in our guts. I immediately flipped on the TV where the weatherman was talking about possible tornadoes in and around Eustis. I hollered for my family to get their butts up and head to the basement. (We are one of those rare Florida houses with a basement.) Kids were grabbing pets and parents were grabbing kids as we made a mad dash downstairs.
Once there, we could hear our living room TV upstairs and so listened to it report the progress of the storm. But then the power flickered, putting the TV on the fritz. I was heading upstairs to check on it when the power simply died.
We hung out in the basement until about 11:15 or so. By then the rain had slowed to a drizzle and the lightning and thunder were fading into the distance too. Using our cell phones, we called some of our relatives and friends and were reassured they were OK.
We were restless for the remainder of the night without power. Sometime in the early morning it finally popped back on. We dozed off for a short while but were then reawakened by helicopters. All the local news stations were flying overhead to survey the damage. They were too early, though, as it was still too dark to actually see anything. Only now as dawn is breaking can anything be seen.
I took my dog out for a short walk this morning. I could see the flashing lights of emergency crews in the neighborhoods behind our house. Mini bulldozers then came down our street looking for a way back to the damaged areas. That’s the areas we take our evening walks!
I have to wrap up now. School is apparently still in session! I have to take my daughter to school.
So far there are no reports of deaths or serious injuries.
