11 Years Ago- April 8, 1998- April 8, 2009

These pictures are from April 8, 1998 when the F5 tornado came through Alabama. I lived in Sylvan Springs when it came through. I was 11 when it happened. Oak Grove School was gone. There was nothing left but the remains of houses. The school I went to did not get damaged. The last two pictures are at the end of our street. If it would of came down the street anymore, it would have gotten our house. We were not able to get out of our street because of all the trees that were down. We walked around after the storm had passed to see the damage, and it was unbelieveable. Nothing could ever prepare you for what we saw that day. We were very fortunate to have our house still standing. A girl I played t-ball with lost her house completely, which is the 5th picture on here. Hearing the wind and hail is something that blew me away. The hail came down so hard, it sounded like somebody was knocking on our garage doors very hard. We had me, my parents, and my nana there. We had all 3 cars in our basement, thank goodness we did or otherwise the wind might could have gotten them. The wind was kicking booty. God was so watching over us. His arms were wrapped around our house and there were angels there to protect us. We were very lucky and fortunate. To go back and see it today, it looks somewhat the same but to look back to 1998, you couldn't say that. There is a reason why I am still here, and did not loose my life on that day. My heart went out to all those who lost their possessions and family members, and my heart still goes out to them. It is not easy to get over something like this no matter how long it has been since it happened.

IT IS A DAY I WILL NEVER FORGET!!!