Night of Terror

“Bad weather is moving in,” my daughter, Julie, told us as we returned to their house after a couple of days in North Carolina. We had had intermittent sun and showers most of the time we were gone, so I wasn’t too concerned. We had been out of contact much of the time with “no network” showing on our phone due to the mountains, and no internet connection at the cabin we’d stayed in.

As the afternoon progressed, ominous clouds began to gather, along with other members of their family. “We’re staying over here tonight if it storms,” our married granddaughters, Sarah and Bethany, said. Both their husbands were working late and they didn’t want to be alone in their mobile homes. Julie became increasingly concerned about 17-year-old Zach, who was working his shift at McDonald’s, and insisted that his father make him come home.

Finally all were present, except one grandson-in-law, Jesse, who called frequently with weather bulletins from his work. Bethany urged him go to his parents’ house for safety rather than drive the considerable distance to where we were. The evening was punctuated by the varied shrill ring tones of concerned friends and loved ones giving urgent missives of where the storm was and what they had heard. It was heading directly toward us.

Suddenly everything went dark, and I knew things were getting serious. We made ourselves as comfortable as possible in their downstairs living room, opting not to sleep in the bedrooms upstairs. Granddaughter Michaela told me the chair I was sitting in pulled out to make a bed, and after awhile, I followed through on her suggestion and made myself a little more comfortable. I was so tired, both from our trip and scant sleep lately, that I soon didn’t even notice the hard ridge under my back.

Everyone wanted to go to bed as it neared midnight, but the reports of dangerous cell clouds rolling in with regularity kept us in our makeshift huddles on sofas, pallets, and chairs. The men kept watch on the porch, with Howard calling me once to come look at the sky. We watched in fascination as a wall cloud, illuminated by flashes of lightning moved across the sky just to the north of us. We were to learn the next morning of the death and destruction it was causing nearby.

Closed in at last with mattresses buttressed against the glass-paned interior doors, most fell into fitful slumber as the warnings slacked off. Howard and I went up to bed at 2:00 a.m., trusting God with the rest of the night. We heard later of many people who were praying for us, and thank God, the prayers were effective.