Just a quick update to family and friends, we’ll fill in the details later. You probably heard about the extreme weather in the south and Midwest, well it caught up with us – actually I don’t think there would have been any avoiding some aspect of it no matter where we were.

We are at DeSoto State park near Fort Payne, AL and had a very close encounter with a couple of Tornadoes last night about 1:30 AM. The watches and warnings were going all evening and for a while it looked like it would miss us, then about midnight things started looking real bad and a direct hit was imminent, so we packed up the kitties and high tailed it for the Lodge at the park which is one of the shelters here. The nasty stuff went right over us according to the TV radar reports, but apparently missed us or never touched down. Whew!

Some damage occurred nearby (see photo below) and the Verizon tower is also out so we have no phone service or ability to send/receive text messages. Likewise our email will be out. We are sending this post from the Lodge using their network.

So wish us even more luck as there is more of the same coming this evening but its not supposed to be as intense. Will update y’all tomorrow.

A family of four safely escaped from the debris that was once their home in Fort Payne as the storms demolished the structure. Photo by Dan Kennedy/WRCBtv.com