The moment after...

2012-10-16T13:24:00.003-07:00

   The moment after I saw the tree I called my neighbor Scotty & asked if the tree was blocking the front door. (I needed to know if we could escape that way or if I needed to shoot / break out our bathroom window) Seconds later, ten barefoot gentlemen barged into our home & started grabbing our pictures off of the wall, took my children and wife, and other items they could grab in a hurry and took them all to his (Scotty's) house. (It didn't sink in until a bit later that Scotty had put up a bouncy play house for the kids in his back yard which I assume that is why they were all barefoot! haha * Insert Arkansas Joke here *)

   Then they repeated trip after trip with suitcases, boxes, coolers, etc. to place items into. We were able to salvage my guns, family photos, two laptops, my clothes, & most of my wife's clothes. One of the guys I noticed was Pat Bradley. (I didn't have time to stop & say hello but if you ever read this... I want to say "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!")

   So then I remembered that my computer backups were in the home & I knew my wife would never let me live down the fact that 'an IT Director "forgetting" what he's preached for many years'. So Andy (another great neighbor) & I went back into the home one last time to fetch the External HDDs that I had our entire life stored upon. We ran in & the house was literally moaning, creaking, & settling as we scurried through. I grabbed the HDDs and out the door we sprang and not one moment too soon because the ceiling collapsed as we exited & closed the door.

My family & I are truly blessed to have neighbors of this caliber! They are awesome & I pray God takes care of their every need.

   Once everyone was clear I sent my wife & children to our friends home and started calling the insurance, police, fire department, etc. It was funny because the 911 dispatcher told me to get atop of the home & remove the tree.

This image is looking into our hallway toward the children's bedrooms.
The ONLY two items that remained on the walls were two crosses.

Stay tuned for the next day of events!

How it all began...

2012-10-15T14:11:00.000-07:00

   On September 1st, 2012, the very last remnants of Hurricane Isaac were coming through Bryant, Arkansas. We were about to leave to watch an Arkansas Razorback game at a friend's home across town & then back to our neighborhood during halftime.

   I walked across to the neighbor's house to bring a jalapeno-venison, cheese, & cracker tray for our visit during half-time. Then I walked back over to our home. The clouds looked like something out of a movie and appeared to be full of wrath with a clearly defined wall without any apertures.

   I pulled my wife's vehicle into our garage three quarters of the way so that she and our two children could avoid the torrential downpour. Then I went in to get the kids' shoes on & get ready to leave.

    My wife told our 5 yr. old daughter to get a hair bow from her room when I was standing in the living room looking out into the back yard. As she passed, I told her (my daughter) to sit on the couch because our tree in the back yard was swishing ferociously! She politely minded me & followed instructions. Then my 2 yr. old son wanted to be with his mommy, which was still getting ready with makeup & all, so I told him to go be by mommy back into our master bedroom.

   Then, one minute later... chaos & panic ensued! We heard a very loud *thud*, felt the ground shake, & had no clue what had just happened. I ran into the living room where my daughter was & grabbed her and headed into our master bathroom. I thought that a tornado had just hit our home and I was preparing to grab mattresses, blankets, and other emergency accessories we keep handy. Then I heard water coming into the home and wind ripping inward too.

   I ran back into the living room to see what had happened... and then it hit me!!! The straight line winds pushed a My neighbor's tree, a100+ foot tall oak tree, onto our home. (which the neighbor's and I had discussed the previous night, while letting our children play in the yards, and laughed about it)

As you can see this is the view from my back yard looking toward the neighbor's tree.

Here's the tree that fell onto the children's trampoline & through the home.

Stay tuned! I'll discuss the events that happened moments after the tree fell!

The storm is gone... now pick up the pieces!

The moment after...

How it all began...