Mother Natures Fury

Sunday afternoon an F5 tornado blew through a small town in NE Iowa, near my hometown of Cedar Falls. Dennis, the dogs, and I were spending the weekend at our river place in Harpers Ferry, IA. When the weather reports first broke the radar had the tornado heading straight toward us. We just have a mobile home, built up off the ground...not the place to be in a storm with high winds, let alone a tornado. Dennis said, "I have a bad feeling." Dennis' bad feeling combined with the sudden increase in humidity, outdoor temp (went up by 6 degrees in a matter of minutes!), and the sudden stillness of the air prompted us to pack up quickly and head north. We were going to head back home, but stopped in at our friends Joyce and Larry to check the weather report. By now the storm was heading due east instead of northeast so we stayed put. We went into town to eat and got some awesome pictures of storm clouds. The rest of the evening we watched the news with horror as the severity of the tornado was revealed. Needless to say we were very lucky. There were reports of debris and personal items falling out of the sky many miles away near the mississippi river! We looked but never found anything. My prayers go out to the families of the 7 victims, and the staggering numbers of people who lost their homes and valuables. http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2008/05/28/news/top_story/10369683.txt

Here are some pictures: