It was 11:55 this morning and I heard the sound of my cell phone ring above the storm sirens that had been sounding for about 15 minutes. It was Ozzy's "Dreamer" coming through the tiny speaker on the phone and I know it isn't family calling. I have this tone set for numbers my phone does not recognize. For a brief moment, I wonder if I should stop gathering up essentials and see who is calling in the middle of the storm. I answer and hear the sound of my daughter's voice asking "Mom? You're not cleaning are you?" I have a habit of cleaning the house in the middle of bad storms and tornado watches. I chuckle and ask "where are you?". She giggles and says "under a table with everyone piled up on 
top of me." She was in a class at school. I feel that is a safe place for her.
A few hours later, the storm appears to be over. It had ran north of town and the severe part missed us. Thank goodness. The day can go on as usual. We have another system moving in, but it will be a little while. My husband decides he wants to go to a gun shop abut 30 miles from here, so we head out. After about 10 minutes, it starts to rain so hard we could barely see 30 feet ahead of us, but my husband being the stubborn man he is, keeps driving. I nervously sit in the passenger seat watching as the water fills yards and ditches.
We make it to the store just to find them closed and turn around to head home. By this 
time, every 1/4 mile or so, there was 4-8 inches of water over the road. The fields have turned to rivers. Bluffs into waterfalls. I can't wait to get home. My cell rings again, playing the "Dreamer" tone. I suspect it to be my daughter telling me they have canceled her evening class due to the weather. Her phone is out of minutes and she is using a friend's. I answer and there is no body there. I try to call the number back, to no avail. A pre-recorded message stating the customer I am trying to reach is not available. Now, I'm getting really nervous. Redial. Redial. Redial.
As we get close to town, we notice traffic is backed up about a half mile outside of town 
and decide to divert to a road around the traffic. This one leads right in front of the school that houses kindergarden and 1st grades. It is also full of traffic and parked cars on both sides of the road. Up ahead, in the parking lot I see red and blue lights in the parking lot close to the bus shed. As my eyes search for a reason, I spot the school bus lying on it's side in the middle of the lot. Nervousness turns to near panic as I still cannot reach my daughter. This is about the time she is transferring busses at this very location. Redial. Redial....ring, ring, "Hi Mom, where are you?". Thank God! She is still at the high school. They hadn't released the students because of the weather. We make a right at the end of the street and head to pick her up. Relief washes over me as she gets into the van. Time to head home. I hear the sherrif on the radio report that there were no injuries except for the driver of the overturned bus, who had been transported to the local hospital. 
After the storms are over, we head out on the road with my camera to look at the damage. The city says it was caused by 70 mile per hour wind, but it's so localized it appears to have been a tornado. There were no sirens. No warning.
5 homes are without roofs tonight. Some are covered in tarps and others with people on them trying to repair what they can. Debris lines the fences, yards, and vacant lots surrounding these homes. A carport on top of a house. Two of the school band trailers were picked up and tossed into the empty field behind the school. Total damage. The awning on the school ripped off, chainlink fence picked up out of the concrete, 1/2 inch bolts and all. Shattered glass all over the parking lot. 
I am thankful tonight for many things. Primarily that there have been no fatalities reported from this rude visit from mother nature.
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