I was driving on the freeway on Tuesday and the electronic freeway sign warned of high winds over the next couple of days. I hadn't really payed close attention to the news or weather reports, so had no idea what was really in store.
I called Lady and asked what was going on. She explained that every year we get winds from the east that tend to be at a higher speed since we live in Davis County. She said there was no need to panic, it's something that happens every year.
This year was so different. We heard the winds howling Wednesday night and sometime through the night the power went out. I have never heard such high winds in my life.
Scott had to leave for work that morning, although I did not want him driving in this weather. He told me to go to his mom's, since the apartment was getting cold. (Their power was out as well, but they have a gas fireplace.) He suggested that, with how windy it was, I take the kids out to the car one at a time.
We got ready for the day quickly and headed to Lady's. It was awful just getting to the car. The carport roof was blowing so hard and loud, I was sure it was going to blow off. I hated leaving Ali in the car alone while I went back to the house to get Cam.
As I was driving to the house, I saw so many trees uprooted, power lines down and debris all over roads. It was an unbelievable sight to see. I was able to listen to the radio to get some more info for the first time that morning. They said they had recorded wind gusts in Centerville over 100 mph! They had closed the freeway in both directions because semi trucks were being blown over on their sides.
This is what I saw when I pulled up to Lady's. This is their 25-year-old apple tree that had blown over.
As the day went on and after hearing that the power may not be restored for 24-48 hours, I decided it would be best for us to sleep at their house. Scott had school that night and I for sure didn't want to be home alone in the cold.
Around 5 pm, the wind had died down. Robby and I ventured out to the apartment to get some overnight things. We live about 4 miles from Scott's parents, and saw nearly every pine tree uprooted on our drive.
We passed Bountiful Cemetery and everyone was stopped taking pictures. It was so unbelievable. There were over 50 trees down just at the cemetery. Robby was brave enough to get out and take this picture.
This picture does not even describe what it looked like.
It seemed like a tornado touched down.
I found a few random candles in the house to light as I was packing up our things. After I was done, it looked like a tornado struck in our house. I had rummaged through so much!
Scott left school a little earlier that night and finally got home to us. We camped out in Lady's living room by the fire and had so much fun. Cam loved it and, whenever he feels a windy day, asks if we need to sleep at Gramy's.
The next morning around 6 am, the power came back on.
Clean up was about to begin.
The following Sunday we heard that all of church in many stakes in the area was cancelled. They wanted everyone that to get out in the neighborhoods assist in cleaning up. It was an amazing thing to witness and something that brought the ward, neighbors and city closer together.
Scott was gone most of the day and worked so hard with everyone else. The city dump, which is usually closed on Sundays, was asked to open and was so busy that they had to eventually direct people to leave their loads of trees and debris in an empty field along the highway.
I learned many great lessons from this storm. One, I am not prepared for disaters like I should be. We have been counceled by the prophet and other church leaders to be prepared with 48-hour kits and other emergency needs. We have some things, but they were in no way readily available. I didn't have any candles together in an accessible spot for when it got dark. I couldn't find our wind-up radio quickly, which would have been extremely helpful since the power was out.
Another lesson learned is that Lady is prepared. She is calm and great to have around when something like this is happening. I tease her often about her reactions to some of the things she warns us to be prepared for, ie: the bird flu a couple years back. hahaha.
It was nice to know that whatever I didn't have or couldn't find, she had, plus 5.
It was an amazing thing to see the neighborhood unite and help everyone. The Mayor was so impressed with the cleanup efforts that Sunday and couldn't believe what was accomplished in that short time. Most of the trees were hauled away and debris cleaned up.
I am so grateful to live in this ward and neighborhood. We are surrounded by good people that are ready to serve.
Since the storm, I have collected items that we may need in power outages and have stored them in an accessible spots for us. I have stocked up on candles from nickel auctions and sales to help me feel better prepared for the next outage.
I am so grateful for this storm. It was a small "storm" compared to what will come in the last days, but it taught me a sense of urgency to be prepared and follow more diligently the council of the Prophet.
