The Big Storm

The storm picked up quickly, blowing leaves and then trash cans, blowing the fence gate open and slamming it closed. "I"ll go close the gate and put the cans in the barn." I told my mom. We were standing in the kitchen watching the weather out the window. We heard about this storm on the morning news so we were prepared. .

We had already put up the animals in the barns, not wanting to risk losing any. Mom had made a stew, and gathered buckets and towels, just in case. She also got out the candles and flashlights, and checked all rooms for open windows. Dad had pulled the generator onto the porch before breakfast. Possibly a category four they said.

I could see my mom in the kitchen window looking concerned while I chased a trash can and fought the intense wind to the trash barn. I fought my way back to pick up the second can which was now empty, contents blown everywhere. I pushed my way to the gate and secured it before hurrying back to the house. I got to the porch just in time to see a flash of lightning and hear a crack of thunder. The rain started hard and fast, torrentially pouring down. The wind was crazy too, unpredictably changing directions. My dad, brother and grandfather pulled up to the house in our old truck and ran through the wind and rain into the house.

"We got the crack fixed" my brother Bob said dripping.

"It should hold." said my dad Robert. "Just in the nick of time too." My mom threw us all towels.

"I could use a cup of hot cocoa," my grandpa said.

"Sounds like a great idea!" my dad said and headed for the kitchen.

"I'll make it." My mother said turning back toward the kitchen. "Get yourselves dried up."

We always had fresh milk in the fridge so our hot cocoa was extra delicious! . We had a couple of dairy cows on the farm. Our place was really a horse ranch but my granddad had lived here his whole life and when he was a child his family lived off this land. It's a tradition we have managed to uphold. Besides having twenty thoroughbred horses, we had dairy cows, sheep, goats, chickens, and pigs and even bee hives. We also had a huge garden with fruits and vegetables and many fruit and nut trees.

My dad brought me and my brother down a dry tee shirt which we both changed into, while watching the cocoa heat up.

"Quite a storm!" my dad said looking out the kitchen window. "Everyone is hunkered." he said. " Got all the horses in."

The storm picked up. It was dark as night though it was only four in the afternoon. Gusts of wind and rain, going this way and that. Lighting streaked the sky with loud booms of thunder! My mom shuddered. The hair on my skin stood up. Another thunderous boom and the lights in the house went out. Fortunately my mom had already set out the candles in every room and the flashlights she had put on the table.

The storm went on for quite a few hours. When the lightning hit we could see pools of water in the field. The gutters around the house were loud with the sound of rushing water. It was one of those storms that you wonder if it will ever end.

Just as intensely had the storm raged suddenly it was completely quiet. A sudden calm in the storm. It seemed odd. The sky cleared but no birds sang. We stood watching out the kitchen window drinking our hot cocoa wondering if the storm was truly over. Less than a minute later a flash of green light and then a green glow. We heard an eerie sound, like a really loud whistle and then we saw it. Not well but we could tell by the sound and stillness. A twister! It was about a mile or two from our farm.

It was coming this way! “It touched down in the back field!” my dad looked concerned. We could see it from the kitchen window and watched the wind pull everything toward it and into the funnel and then spit it back out again. You could see bits and pieces of debris getting picked up and thrown around! “Should we get in the root cellar?” I asked my dad. We watched for another minute as it tore through our field but seemed to be going left toward our neighbor Bob Headly's place but we couldn’t be sure. “Let’s go!” My dad said and led us all down stairs through the kitchen into the root cellar. “We”ll stay down here until we are sure.” He said.

We heard a loud pop, cracking, and a bang and the wind and rain started again soaking everything for about another half hour. My brother opened a jar of canned peaches. Just as suddenly the storm was over. The rain stopped to a light drizzle and then stopped completely. The wind stopped blowing and the birds started singing. The house was still without power and no lights came back on.

It was about six at night and being early summer the sky was light now that the storm had passed.

We went outside to assess the damage. The old cotton wood had some branches down. We walked to both barns and made sure the animals were ok and they seemed to be. We checked the spot where the crack was in the barn roof and the patch job held. Then we walked to the garden and it was a disaster! Broken plants everywhere and the orchard had fruit laying everywhere on the ground. . We would have to harvest what we could and tend to the plants that survived. My grandpa had put rocks on top of the beehives and they seemed to be ok. We walked out to the field and could see the actual path of the twister on the ground. It left bare ground where grass had grown and made a path across the field that we suspected went to Bob Headly's place.

We went back to the house and poured some hot cocoa into a thermos along with some of mom's chocolate chip cookies and headed in the truck to Bob Headly's house. Bob was outside looking at the damage to his garage roof. His cottonwood uprooted and fell right onto his garage.

"We brought emergency hot cocoa and cookies." my mom said. We assessed the damage. A few of the other neighbors came over as well. Fortunately his house did not take a hit. We were all thankful for that!

"I saw that green light and just knew." Bob said. Bob was the only one we had talked to that night that had any damage from the storm. "Come to our house for dinner," mom said. "I already made a stew."

We took Bob back to our house and had dinner by candlelight until the lights came back on.

A bunch of us went to Bob's the following day and started clean up and repair of Bob's garage.

"That storm, it wasn't so bad." my granddad said, pulling his chainsaw out from the truck bed. We all looked at him. He smiled."Let's get to work!" he said pulling the chord. The chainsaw roared. "We got work to do!" he yelled. And we did. There was ten of us neighbors working together and we got Bob's garage repaired in no time. "Hope we don't have a storm like that again!" he said. "Watermelon and ice tea for everyone!" And we celebrated our blessing of friends and family that together would withstand any storm.