At 5:20 a.m. on October 6, 2010 the first of six tornado funnels touched down in Arizona. This particular funnel blasted through the Camping World across the highway from our neighborhood, proceeded around the edge of the Flagstaff Meadows townhomes, and then down our street, Bellemont Springs, where our home was one of its first stops. The night had been filled with what must have been the worst thunderstorm I have ever heard, and around 5 a.m. there was no question that everything went totally bizarre. Baseball sized hail began pummeling our home which had me on the edge of my seat. Then suddenly the power shut down quite abruptly (it is truly amazing that the power lasted through the night at all) and I began to hear incredible wind and a siren like wooshing. At this point I was pretty darn sure we were dealing with a tornado. I grabbed Karlynn out of her bassinette just as the master bathroom window blew-in and ran down the hall to get the boys out of their beds. Jake was not home as he had left in the middle of the night to drive down to Phoenix Sky Harbor for a day long business trip -- he was supposed to be back home in time for dinner. My mom, however, was still in town to help out with the arrival of the new baby. She met me in the hallway and helped me shuffle the boys into the hall bathroom tub. It was all such a whirlwind and we didn't really have time to be scared or be in shock until it was all said and done. When I got into the boys bedroom they were both still tucked in their beds, but were awake, and Micah said, "I don't like this." I replied, "Neither do I."
We called some friends for help after the first tornado subsided, as well as Jake to let him know what had happened and that he needed to head back up the hill rather than getting on the plane to Utah. Our friends ripped our garage door off of the hinges so we could get out of the house. We made it to their house, located on the other side of the neighborhood, in time to hide from the second tornado. Fortunately, the second funnel took a sharp left turn and hit 1 mile to the west knocking down powerlines and traincars along the way.
The following three tornadoes crossed Highway 180 and the last hit near Tuba City, the strongest funnel of them all gauging as an F3 (all of the others wers F2s at up to 135 mph). All together this was the largest tornadic event in Arizona history both in number of funnels and in intensity of the storm.
Praise the Lord that there were no fatalities and only minor injuries! His protection is truly amazing!
Psalm 121
1I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;
From where shall my help come?
2My help comes from the LORD,
Who made heaven and earth.
3He will not allow your foot to slip;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
4Behold, He who keeps Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.
5The LORD is your keeper;
The LORD is your shade on your right hand.
6The sun will not smite you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7The LORD will protect you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
8The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in
From this time forth and forever.
