I can't believe I almost forgot to mention this. Ali & Avi were supposed to leave on Thursday night. It was raining bad and we insisted they stay until Friday morning. Her husband was in Jacksonville on business & she was driving up there to meet him. So, she agreed and stayed the night. About 5am I woke up to very strong wind & rain. I couldn't get back to sleep. I finally said to Brandon that I thought we should turn on the radio to check the weather situation. We checked & they said there were tornado's touching down VERY close to us. We ran upstairs, woke Ali & we all grabbed the kids & ran downstairs. I just kept praying to God that I didn't make my friend stay only to go through a tornado. We kept cool heads, but I was scared. Lucky for us our town was spared. But 1/2 hour to the West & 1/2 hour to the East they were not so lucky. Tornadoes touched down & tore apart parts of Florida. People lost loved ones & their homes. I am thankful it didn't touch us directly, but it was close. I ordered one of these weather alert radios this weekend: http://www.oregonscientificstore.com/searchresult.asp?phrase=wr108
If you don't have one it is a good idea to get one. I found other models as cheap as $25 on the Internet. I think Home Depot sells them as well. You just leave it plugged in at all times & when severe weather is in your area an alarm sounds. It would at least give your family a chance.
If you have a couple of extra bucks the Red Cross is taking donations for this specific tragedy. It would be a great way to help. Just a thought!
These pictures are from a local radio guys blog. His family was directly affected. The web site they came from is http://www.monsters.fm/ and they have a link to the Red Cross.
