So, most of you have probably already heard, but a tornado hit Kirksville Wednesday night (the 13th). I was still in the hospital. I was having a horrible time. About 36 hours after every childbirth I suddenly get super emotional and cry and cry and cry. Well, it was hitting me that night. Roy, granny and the kids had visited earlier in the day and when they left Rae was having a hard time holding back tears when she said goodbye to me. So that set it off. Roy came back later in the afternoon by himself to help me hold it together. I really wanted to go home. I knew it was good to keep Isaac longer to keep an eye on him, but I really, really wanted to go home. I was crying when a nurse came in and when she asked me if I was okay of course that made it worse! Roy finally got me distracted and calmed down and when he left I was feeling much better. But then over the intercom I hear "attention staff and patients, we are under a tornado warning. staff, please follow protocol." I turned on the TV and all of the channels were flashing warnings. A nurse came in and checked if my blinds were closed. She came back about 2 minutes later and told me that they were moving everyone to a safer part of the building (we were on the top floor) They took us to the surgical part of the floor. At this point all the emotions came back!! I sat in a chair in the cold surgical room and just cried to myself. You know when you try to hold back tears and it just makes it worse? So I just let it all out and then I felt better. I called Roy and he was at Walmart. I told him to be careful and pay attention to the warnings. I knew he wouldn't do anything I told him to do. After a while they moved us into a tiny storage closet. There were about 20 of us smooshed into the room. The moms got to sit and everyone else had to stand. (there was a teenage mom there who had about 6 visitors that were extremely annoying and smelled like smoke) There was one lady in labor, but she was just in the beginning stages. I kept calling Roy and checking on what they were doing. It was hard for me to not be there and be in control of my family!
We sat in the room for about an hour. The first 30 minutes were fine - everyone chatted and everyone was getting news updates from their phones. The next 30 minutes almost everyone started complaining that we couldn't go back to our rooms. I was fine with being in the closet - they brought my dinner and I didn't mind being extra careful and staying until the warning was cleared. We finally got to go back to our rooms and I turned on the news to see what areas got hit. Roy came a little later to talk to me and help me get some of the excitement/fear out of my system.
We are about 2 miles away from the part of town that got hit. We drove over there today to see some of the damage. Wow, it was like the stuff you've only seen on TV and I can't believe it happened in my town! Two families in our ward had their houses destroyed. I am so grateful that my home and family were safe! And I'm grateful for the great care I received in the hospital during the whole thing. And I'm praying that I never experience a tornado ever again!
4 comments:
Wow the video says it all. I couldn't believe my ears when I heard Kirksville, I thought it was a coincidence but Linda had just called me from there earlier in the evening with the news about Bryce, and didn't mention anything about the weather. I only heard about it because that was the night I was up all night waiting to hear about Diona's labor progress and I had the news on all night. It was during a sleepy moment that I first heard Kirksville and thought that was too weird to be true. All I could think about was you and your brand new baby and thinking, you'll really have something to write about in his babybook.
Wow! So scary! And so frustrating! I am so sorry you had to deal with this during the emotional roller coaster after you deliver. I am happy you and your family and your home are safe!
WOW!!! What a story. I get the super-sobs too after giving birth - can't imagine going sitting in a storage closet during a tornado while being super moody. Great job capturing it!
I wondered the other day what the hospital would do w/ their patients. Now I know. I was stuck in Walmart, too! So was Kathy Hatcher.
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