The biggest problem with this ordeal has indeed been the clean up and sifting through the 18-24 inches of blown fiberglass insulation, drywall, comp roofing and 2X4 lumber that has covered and encrusted everything inside the house. I managed to get the last of it out just yesterday. Thank God because I am still itching from that damn blown fiberglass insulation.
I wanted to share a few last thoughts and observations that stand out in my memory from the last few weeks in hopes that the next guy might learn something and be better prepared from my experience.
Remember that your safety and awareness is your responsibility and don’t rely to much on the media and technology to tell you what to do.
We had absolutely zero warning this was about to happen. There were no Severe Weather alerts on the local Television Stations. No Tornado Sirens ever sounded. And it wasn’t until the following day it was officially labeled as an F-1 Tornado. A very light rain was falling, with a light wind…no thunder or lightning or any other signs that severe weather was coming in. I just heard the wind come up things started flying.
Immediatley after assesing the damage to the house my wife and I implemented our (EPP) Emergency Preparedness Plan and readied ouselves to evacuate as there was another supercell moving into our area and we were told we had about an hour to get whatever we could before the next storm arrived.
It was somewhat amusing to see the looks on the faces of the neighbors when I began hauling out firearms and Ammunition. Thirty-Five Rifles, Shotguns and Pistols in all.
I do not currently own a gun safe (I have a Steel Cage) non-waterproof, or in this case I probably wouldn’t have felt compelled to secure all my firearms during this scenario.
We packed up our camping/survival-gear, clothing and a few other essential valuables into the SUV and were ready to travel in a little under 45 minutes. We could have been out in less than 30 but a couple of the firemen were shooters and kept asking me questions about a couple of the older guns I brought out.
For the most part…getting the emergency essentials together and out went quickly and smoothly…
I did identify a couple of issues which I will be addressing in the very near future.
First…My Bug Out Bag wasn’t complete as some of the items had been removed and were scattered throughtout the house. I had the week before unloaded the bag with the intention of doing an inventory and replacing a couple of the perishables, and had put off repacking the bag that day. I managed to get most of it together but the bag was very unorganized and it made finding things within it more difficult than it should have been.
Secondly…my primary sidearm got seperated from the (BOB) and upon arrival at the motel that night I had to partially unload the SUV to find it. (This wasn’t quite as huge an issue as it seems since I had a secondary handgun readilly available as well as the LMT Defender 5-loaded P-Mags in the case I bought back in Nov 2008.) My wife even made the comment that it felt very good knowing that this carbine was there that night.
Thirdly…Since the death of my Father last fall my Mother has been living with me and I haven’t made extra provisions for the addition of a third adult in the household. Luckily my younger sister was able to take her in that night and keep her safe until we can get settled in the new place.
Lastly…I found that neither my wife or I had any cash on us that night. Between the two of us we had less than $5.00. Not a real problem since all we had to do was make a stop at the nearest ATM…But the tornado hit at 10:50 p.m. so many of the places of business had already closed…had this storm been (the Big One) it could have been very hard to get to the funds we had in the bank at the time. I intend to make it a priority to keep an emergency stash of cash on hand from this point on. A minimum of $100.00 in small bills and change for vending machines etc…
I always try to keep a positive attitude towards diversity when it hits and even though this is the third time we have been hit by a tornado, and the second time we have been displaced. I learned that while we are perhaps better prepared than many households are…there is always room for improvement. If you live near the ocean you have to expect that eventually you might get hit by a Hurricane. If you live on the West Coast…Earthquakes. I have never been one of the types to go crying and asking, Why me? Instead I ask what can I learn and do to prevent this in the future?
When I decided to post this thread I had a specific goal in mind…as a heads up call to show that disaster can strike unexpectedly and does so on small scales everyday…as well as larger scale like Katrina etc… Lightning can strike more than once…(as stated this is my third time being hit by tornados and the second time my home has been destroyed in the last decade.) My wife and I also rode out the 2007 Ice Storm without Power for 15 days.)
And to show the value of having a Emergency Contigency Plan in place…it made this experience a little easier to handle on the night it occured. My wife and I both had specific responsibilities assigned to complete. It kept us busy and our minds occupied on the tasks at hand and off the (Ohhh Woe is Me) mentality. We evacuated in less than an hour with enough gear to survive for more than a week should the need have arisen.
Thanks for the comments and well wishes I look forward to getting back into the forum and conversations as my household is now back on track.
