Those were Owen's words on Sunday morning seconds after lightning struck our home. Our memories are all a little different about exactly how it all happened, but here's my version:
We had been to Tennessee on Saturday following the Rebel Regiment (they swept the competition) and had gotten home around 2:45 am so we slept in that morning. Around 11, Daniel was making some grits for breakfast, I was talking to him in the kitchen, Owen was watching TV and Sara was upstairs on facebook. It was a rainy morning, but not a stormy one. We had heard no thunder. All of a sudden there was a tremendous boom, the entire house shook, the smoke detectors went off, and then the power shut down. We stood there stunned for a second. Sara came running downstairs thinking the kitchen had blown up and Owen said, "We've been hit" as if we were in a war zone. Daniel looked out the front door and saw that it looked like a war zone too. He said, "Get out." Sara used her phone to dial 911 and gave it to me. We grabbed the cats and took off for the garage. We didn't see any fire so we loaded everyone in the cars and moved them across the street.
The fire department got there in maybe 5 minutes time. They searched the house and used some sort of thermal detector to look for hot spots. After awhile they declared the house safe to enter and help Daniel put a tarp on the roof.
Here's what we saw:
A couple of holes in the roof as the entry point with some damage to siding and shingles.
The ceiling of the front porch blown down onto the porch.
Debris from the ceiling had broken one of Sara's windows.
Pieces of shingle, insulation, and soffit all over the yard.
A stove that worked, but an attached oven that didn't.
A refrigerator that seems to be dying (still keeping cool inside, but HOT to the touch outside).
2 lights out and 3 outlets out in the kitchen.
All outlets out in the garage (including the door opener).
A fried wireless router and DSL splitter (with scorch marks on the wall).
A computer that turns on, but doesn't work.
A fried surge protector that saved everything it was supposed to (a miracle worth celebrating).
No phone service and no directv (lines and equipment).
No heating and air conditioning (yeah, we did just buy a new heat pump...).
There may be more, but that's what I can think of right now. I'll post pictures when we have a computer at home up and running.
But, what's more important than what was lost is what was spared - our lives. All four of us and our beloved pets were completely untouched. God held us in His Hands that day and protected us. Yes, we are inconvenienced and yes, it will cost us some money (even with insurance), BUT we are alive and we have each other. We are so blessed.
Flashback: October
14 years ago
