We survived the tornado.........

[66KingFisher]

Hey guys, this is my first chance to get online and let ya'll know that we survived the tornado that rolled thru our scenic little town this past thursday nite.....I also want to tell you how nice a feeling it was to have someone from this forum call my home and check on us over the weekend.....Thats special to me because i'm a new member here at BassFishin.com and I don't know a soul here on a personal level....Well as of now I think I know at least one persons soul a bit better....Zooker...buddy....I was deeply touched that you called....I hadn't a clue who you were at first, till you mentioned this site, but I gotta tell ya bud, that really,really ment alot to me..."thank you sir"...that was in my opinion, above and beyond the call of duty for any forum member.....I'll never forget that.....I gotta steak and a cold one with your name on it buddy if you ever get down my way, or I yours.....Bama, I see that you tried callin too buddy.....i'm sure I could spring for a second hunk of dead cow and something to wet yer whistle too....I'm touched guys....I truely am....says alot about your character and the kind of folks we got here.....I dunno what else to say but thank you.....I hope we can all meet and wet a hook someday....and Bama, you were right bud...the chainsaws have been runnin none stop round here.

As for the experience, all I can say is "Wow"....I lived my whole life in the middle of tornado alley,Tulsa Oklahoma. but I had to move to Mena Arkansas to finally get slammed head on for the first time....hehehe...what a deal, but I hope its the last time too.
We were eating dinner when the warning sirens sounded the first time, so I told the wife to take the grandbaby and get into the closet in our bedroom thats on the north side of our house while I fired up the police scanner to see what kinda cross talk I could pick up...our daughter was across town at work at the time....After hearing the cops talk for a few minutes I did what any typical male would do....since it sounded like it was headed my way I went outside to look around and see whats what of course...Duh....When I stepped out from under the back porch all I could see was a wall of black sky to my south, but as I stood there and listened I could hear a train....it took me several seconds to determine it wasn't a real train since tracks are close by and we hear them often....but something about this train was different....the louder it got the more it sounded less like a train and more like a blast furnace.....and huge blast furnace that was makin a heck of roar.....It was about this time that I decided this must be the real deal and I turned and headed the 15ft across the porch towards the back door, and before I got there the wind hit so bad I almost couldn't pull the stormdoor open...and thats sayin alot cause i'm not really a little guy....after a second big yank, I was in....slammed the main door behind me as I took off runnin thru the house yellin "its here, its here"....by the time I reached the closet and started to pull the door close behind me it hit.....windows exploded like a bomb went off next door and the roar was almost deafening.....but what amazed me the most was the powerfull instant vacuum within the room....the closet door doesn't have a latch or knob from the inside so I was just holding it by hand, and it was all I could do to keep it from being ripped from my fingers.....for a split second that scene from the movie "Twister" where the father is holding the cellar door closed and the tornado takes the door along with him up into the sky came to mind....but thankfully that wasn't the case here and in about 30 seconds it was all over.

After checking on neighbors to make sure nobody was hurt we all just seemed to stand around in the middle of the street like zombies as we look at the sight before our eyes...It was a full moon nite and everything had an eerie orange glow to it till the moon got high enough in the sky that it began to look white again....I guess that was from dust in the air or something....I dunno but it was creepy....many things were not recongnizable and you strained to see what it was....Our poor daughter only works about 5 minutes from home.....they didn't get hit directly but she knew it was headed into our neighborhood so she's freakin out.....she spent the next hour and half tryin to get home and when could couldn't get by car she just left it and started walking....most of the time she didn't know where she was because everything looked different....even road signs were missing.....fortunately she made it home safely and found her baby and her parents safe and sound so all ended well....but boy what a stressfull nite.....Our oldest daughter lives in Tampa and just jumped in her truck and headed this way when she didn't hear from us......we finally got a text message to her, but she went ahead and drove on up to help with the clean up....and just to see our faces i'm sure.

It wasn't until the sun came up the next morning that we all got our first look at the damages and we were shocked.....This area of town got hit hard....really hard, but we got off easy compared to most of the other folks.....We don't own this place, but we like it enough that we have rented this same house for 9yrs now and until now had no reason to consider moving because the area was just so beautiful....Its like an 80yr old house and in typical tornado fasion our house really wasn't hurt too bad while my neighbors homes lay in ruins....we lost shingles and got a few holes in the roof from where a huge old pecan tree was pushed over into it....it was growing just a few feet from the house so it just kinda leaned over onto the second story rooftop and stopped at about a 30 degree angle or so....I sure hated to loose that beautiful old tree,it provided shade for the whole house most of the day....naturally we lost most of the windows on the south and east side of the house, but in some cases the storm window broke but the house window did not....Ripped the roof from over the back porch and ripped the electric meter off the front of the house.....My airbrushing studio took a beating, but actually faired pretty good concidering its just a glorified shed with a tin roof...it only lost half the roof....ripped the back door in half and stuck several tree limbs thru the walls...the rest is water damage and just a messed up interior from blowing shingles/insulation and stuff......The worst part of it all for us was our carport/garage was destroyed...I mean like its just gone....both vehicles parked inside were still sitting there on the concrete slab...unmoved....naturally they got beat up somewhat by flyin lumber...busted front and rear glass on one truck but none on the other....Tore the front end off my newly acquired ridin lawn mower which kinda bums me out, but she'll still run.....Lost my tackle box and my BPS spincast combo that had been given me fits with line twist....both were under the carport....I tried to do a bit of searching but I quickly realized its like lookin for a needle in a haystack....theres so much debris piled everywhere its crazy....I suppose in exchange, I did find a nice lifejacket in my yard and my neighbor even had someones canoe land in front yard.....not quite a far trade though....lol....the canoe was just about folded in half so its no good anyway....saw someones bass boat in a tree standin straight up with its bow pointed at the sky....I don't mind loosing the rod-n-reel, cause it wasn't all that expensive anyway....but I do hate loosin the tackle....I didn't have alot cause I only started collecting stuff since last summer, but it was a nice little collection for just spendin $10 here and there at Wallyworld...worst of it is, the new stuff i'd purchased from my christmas trip to bps...got several packs of Ragetail plastics I was sure lookin forward to using...Oh well,whatcha gonna do...least i've got a couple of old fishin poles I can use as backups fer now and I'll just start collecting new stuff as I can.....Lord knows i'd sure like to go fishin right now.....I heard the tornado came across the little lake I fish, so i'm wondering if there are any new blowdowns to pitch a jig at?

Needless to say 2009 hasn't started out to be such a great year for us......i've had more heart problems this year....fuel pump went out in my truck right after that....My daughter had a blowout recently bout wrecked her car and we had to go fetch them back home and repair the car....just last week the clothes dryer died....now a tornado....Whats next?...Lightning?....Locus?...Meteor shower?...Alien invasion?
Sad thing is, theres a whole lot of folks in town that are alot worse off then us....you can see pics and video at youtube, just do a search for mena tornado, and you'll find several.....lots of folks don't have a clue whats fixin to happen to them......keep them in your prayers.....On a positive note, the outpouring of help from the locals and the local churches and even these disaster relief teams that rolled in has been incredable to say the least....i'm proud to be a part of small town america.

I haven't seen any of the news reports so I haven't a clue what kind of pictures or video ya'll might have seen, but i'll attach a couple of pics I took the morning after....I'll start with a picture of what our yard looked like this past fall.

Sorry for the long post....and thank all of you for caring enough to check on us.....God bless you guys...yer good people.
Michael

[1/4 stick]

I'm glad you all are not hurt. I'll be praying for you and yours as well as the other folks around you. And I hope things can get repaired quickly.

[bcklash]

Glad to hear from you Kingfisher and we are praying for you, your family and your neighbors. Don't worry about your tackle box and tackle I'm sure some of us will help you get started again. we just need an address if you don't mind. I will be glad to send some things your way. If there's anything else please let us know.

[jooleyen]

That's really awesome of Zook and Bama. We do have some great people on this forum.

Thanks for sharing and I'm glad you are alright.

[MississippiBoy]

Michael,
Count your blessings, and kiss everybody. I'm glad your family is all right, and that the house wasn't damaged that badly. It could have been a lot worse. We'll be praying for you and your family as you go through a very difficult time.

"Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me..."

[Foyt20]

Glad to hear you are OK... Let me know if there is anything I can do to help.

[BigBassin144]

Glad to hear you all are ok. and sorry about the damages.

BB

[Bassboss]

WOW! Sounds scary! Good luck with the fixing up!

To bad about your tackle

[bamabassman]

hard to write this from the tears swelling up pal. but rest asurred that we are STILL praying for you bub. and yes....... as lash said you give us an address and we'll send you some more stuff to get you back to fishing. i MEAN IT NOW, send us an address ok? as for the steak, you'll be needing that after you get everything back in order. you just post up some pics of the bigg ol fish you catch ok?
and as mississippiboy said "FEAR NO EVIL, FOR THOU ART WITH ME O LORD".



NOW POST UP AN ADDRESS FOR US OK? i have a few thing i need to clean out anyway pal.

[cassidyta]

I am glad you are okay. I am far from being a spiritual man, but have asked my wife and her church to keep you, your family, and neighbors in their prayers.

[MrPhotographer06]

glad your okay!

we had a band of tornadoes go through about 15 miles south of me .. we were lucky to only have some 60 -70 mph winds..

lost a few shingles, but insurance paid for it.

[zooker]

well hoss to be honest i had to get the number from lisa -bama's wife- she said she got it from your profile...i am happy to give ya a moral boost. and i knew you were quite buzy so kept it real short..

the concern was definatly there.according to news reports the twister hit mena a tad after 8pm and you logged out of here at 8:20pm...

this here was cause for consern..the part "the storm knocked over the masonic lodges cinder block wall" got my attention REAL quick..since i know the masons lodges are some of the strongest buildings in any town -most are cinder block-
http://www.todaysthv.com/news/local/...3188&catid=260


no need for the steak and brew..


bama and lash is right though you just post up a mailing addy... i am sure most of us can find some kind of tackle to send ya.it is the LEAST we can do fer ya...



i am definatly not a spiritual guy.i do what I do because I CAN...






zooker

[66KingFisher]

Hi guys, I appreciate all the well wishes but i've already taken so much charitable help around here the past few days its embarasing....folks have been bringin by food and water and tarps and muscle and you name it.....i'm not acustom to all the attention and i'm havin a hard time dealin with it.....you know what I mean don'tcha?

Zooker the Masons building is about a quarter mile or so from my house and its flattened completely.....its amazing.

[carolina-rig-01]

man i am glad to hear from you. i was really wishing i would have asked for your phone # when we were talking a while back because i was wanting to holler and check up on you. i am really sorry for all the destruction you guys have and i will be more than happy to get some tackle on it's way to you if you wanna put your address up. we have been praying for all of you and will continue to do so buddy, hang in there and holler if you need anything.

[carolina-rig-01]

Originally Posted by 66KingFisher

Hi guys, I appreciate all the well wishes but i've already taken so much charitable help around here the past few days its embarasing....folks have been bringin by food and water and tarps and muscle and you name it.....i'm not acustom to all the attention and i'm havin a hard time dealin with it.....you know what I mean don'tcha?

Zooker the Masons building is about a quarter mile or so from my house and its flattened completely.....its amazing.

man don't look at it like charity. it's just people doing what they should do. people are supposed to help each other out, or atleast that's how i look at it. i know that sometimes it's hard to accept help but man that is what friends are for. i really hope you will reconsider the offer but more importantly i am very glad you are ok.

[CMorg]

Man , put up your address. I got alot of new tackle I will never use.. I think its a great idea to post numbers , but I dont want to expose my phone number to the world...maybe someone could do something more secure ? Maybe im just weird ?

[bamabassman]

c-rig is right on pal. just post an addy, and we'll all chip in fer ya. you haven't realized that we are FAMILY here yet have ya, lmao. we take care of each other ok?

[zooker]

Originally Posted by bamabassman

if you haven't realized that we are FAMILY here yet have ya, lmao. we take care of OUR OWN!!!

fixed it fer ya...


zooker

glad everything is as ok as it could be under the conditions.maybe in some strange reason things will be better when it all plays out kingfisher.

[bamabassman]

thanks zooker, sorry....i pulled a muscle in my back and i am on flexaril. wheeeeeee.........feeling no pain gang.

[66KingFisher]

Yeah guys i'm NOT used to the whole extended family deal...thats pretty foreign to guys like myself.....our landlords have also gone so far beyond the call of duty this past week its not funny....they keep sayin the same thing,"your family".

Soooooooo, after thinkin about it over dinner......If you guys will promise you won't go out and purchase nuthin, and just send me some of your excess stuff that'll be fine.....and Lord knows i'd love to try out some of those Thunderstruck jigs. My addy is as follows:

Michael Keech
301 9th street
Mena,Arkansas. 71953

I still don't know what to say other than "Thanks guys".

[bamabassman]

"thanks" is all we require micheal. well, ya DO have to post up the catches ya get, lmao. i'll gather up a few things as soon as i can and get em to ya bud.

[woody]

Hang in there Michael, we're here for ya.

I'm saddened by what you lost, but more thankful for what you didn't.


~Mark

[carolina-rig-01]

Originally Posted by woody

I'm saddened by what you lost, but more thankful for what you didn't.


~Mark

well put...

[barkelypup]

Bump to the top. Thank the Good Lord that your folks are all OK Mr. Keech. I don't know you folks personally but I feel like I do. Heck I don't even chime in that much but just reading some of the things on this board makes (well for the most part because I just don't know about some of bama's stories cause they can be a bit racy at times) better. Count me in on some fishing equipment. Ohh yeah just kidding bama.


Good Luck and may God bless you and your King.