Tornado hits close to home

As most of you probably know, our region was recently hit by a very strong tornado. We are very grateful to God for His protection during this storm. Other than a downed tree, we escaped damage or harm.

I was working at the hospital when the tornado struck. Nicole and the boys were at home at the time, watching a nature dvd. Oddly enough, they did not become aware of the events transpiring in the area until after the storm passed, when I called to check up on them.

We were initially unaware of how close this activity was to us. What we realized the following day, from our neighbors and then from online video posts, was that the tornado came very close to our house/neighborhood. Apparently, after striking the areas where most of the damage occurred, the tornado dissipated temporarily as the storm front traveled in a northeasternly direction - right towards us!

The interesting thing was that as the storm reached our neighborhood, the winds once again strengthened and funnel clouds reformed. We have seen footage of the funnel clouds reforming right over our neighborhood. These seem to indicate that the funnel clouds started forcefully swirling right above where we live and then touched down over the water just next to our house/neighborhood, kicking up water along the way. It then made its way to Craney Island (just 1/2 - 3/4 mile across the James River from us) and beyond.

We know that God had his hand over us, keeping us safe from this dangerous storm! We thank Him for loving kindness and watchful care!
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The following 2 clips show the funnel clouds/tornado reforming right over our neighborhood. It was filmed from about 3/4 mile south from us, from an adjacent neighborhood. The camera is looking in our direction - north. When the man in the footage speaks of "it must be right over the school", thats the school we sometimes walk to 1/4 mile south from us and let the kids play on the playground. When he says "right near the water" - that would be us!!!












The following is a short clip of the winds starting to pick up close to where we live.

That funnel cloud is very close to us! (taken from ~3/4 mile south of us looking towards where we live)

I have included some pics of us in the backyard as we were clearing the debris of the fallen tree. Our neighbor provided some added help and, to Josiah's delight, a chainsaw!

The following was taken from across the bay looking towards us. The tornado was over the water, thus a "water spout".

Some miscellaneous pictures...

These are some interesting clips from the tornado...








This map shows the path of the tornado as is headed northeast. All the devastation occurred where the 1st and 2nd markers (from the bottom moving up) are. We live very close to the 3rd marker.


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