The Bunch Survive A Tornado....Again

Thank goodness the grapes stopped it.

On May 26, at about 10:30pm, all was quiet at our house. The kids had gone to bed about thirty minutes earlier and D was drifting off. I had literally just turned the TV off, having been assured by the weatherman that all was well and the storm risk had passed us, when my phone started screaming with what I assumed was an amber alert. As I went to just swipe it off, I noticed it said tornado warning Valley View. I yelled for D to get up and went to wake the kids and get them into our hall, which is our safest spot. A and I grabbed a cat carrier and threw both the cats into it and I literally dragged the dog into the hall with her leash. D came join us and about 3 minutes after I got the alert, the tornado hit. We could hear the wind howling and loud crashing sounds. There was no rain with this tornado, unlike our last one so it seemed quieter, but it was actually much stronger. As soon as it passed us after a couple of minutes, I went to look out the window and all I could see where the chicken coop was, was NOTHING. No coop at all. I went outside to look more closely and the roosters coop was in a pile about 25 ft from where it should have been and the box that he sleeps in was laying upside down, but somehow still intact. I opened the door and saw the chicken not moving, but then D saw him blink so we pulled him out and brought him inside (we always keep a sick cage in the garage). He was in shock from his thrashing so he didn't put up a fight. I checked on the hens and they were all ok. D and I then trekked out to check on the horses, fearing their house had also probably been demolished, but they were ok too. The next morning we got to see the real damage. We made out really well. We lost some fencing, the coop, our dryer vent cap off the roof, had our trash cans sent every which way, and lost pretty much all our fruit from the trees, but less than a mile from our house was where the tornado hit the hardest. Multiple farms lost their roofs (not just shingles, but the entire roof of their houses), barns, livestock, and sadly even their children. It was TOTAL destruction. You can see the path it took. The front half of our street was untouched and the back half all sustained damage. Unfortunately, the tower that has our cell phone and Internet satellites was snapped in half. There is no estimate for when we will have services again. We plan to head to the library in town at least once a week to use Internet, which is where I am now. The hardest part of no Internet is not being able to watch TV. It's been a long time since we have been at the mercy of tv programming. We usually don't have enough signal to use phone data, but occasionally can get calls. Texting seems to work the best. We have managed to get most of our damage repaired and thankfully Murdoch, the roo, has been moved back outside. I still can't believe he survived in a crappy repurposed toy box that A used when she was baby!

All that was left of where Murdoch's coop should be. Please note his water dish is in the EXACT spot it goes. 

This was his coop.

He was still in that box when we found him. It was most likely what saved him. I cannot believe that crappy box was pretty much untouched!

What a ride he had!

I had so many apples and pears😭 We just need to realize we're not meant to have fruit.

Bird bath didn't make it. I couldn't find the top piece.

I finally found it INSIDE a trash can no where near where it should have been and completely INTACT.

Earlier that afternoon I had put up a temporary fence for the chickens while I re-sod their pen. All the wood snapped at the base so basically now I have to put up a more permanent fence for this summer. I wish I would have just waited instead of working so hard for no reason 😭. It was hot!

The fencing around the trees, that keeps my pain in the butt horses from eating them, is gone.

One of my neighbors.

Murdoch lives!!

We spent sun up to sun down rebuilding his coop. We have a little bit left to do,but it is good enough for him to use and after all the storms pass we will finish.

That crappy box saved his life so we fixed it up and he is going to continue to use it.

We added braces and tow chains to anchor it better. Not that it will stop a tornado, but maybe it will help with straight line winds. We had just originally build it last July. It wasn't even a year old.