It started like a typical Saturday - rushing around to get stuff done at home so we could do the fun stuff we wanted to do. We needed to get ready for a Sunday School class Easter party/egg hunt at Emily's house. I finally had the food done, and the kids dressed, when my eye started itching. I finally decided to take the contact out to rinse it, when I noticed weird swelling, like a bubble, on my eye. I freaked a little, talked to Merrilea, did some reading on it, and decided my eye was not about to fall out and I could go to the party as planned.
The party was great. Cute kids hunting for eggs, parents hanging out talking. Always watching the sky, to see if the storms would hold off until we were done. It rained a little, and people started heading out. Back at the beginning of the party, Cassy had an unfortunate run in with the umbrella at the picnic table, and was at the ER, so I was taking her daughter home with me. Finally, it was just my family +1, Emily, and the Lings. I gathered all our stuff and all the kids and loaded up the van, then went back in for a final sweep for our stuff. When I started to pull away, voices from the back yelled "what about Aaric!?" What about Aaric? Oh, he'd somehow slipped back inside. The rain was getting harder, so I rushed back in for him, which is when the hail started. We were all still laughing and I pulled out and started home.
The hail was pretty bad, but we just thought it was a typical spring storm. I had no idea that by then, a tornado had already formed and was heading directly toward us.
As I was nearing Yadkin Rd, where I would turn to get back through the Fort Bragg gate, I noticed some rotation in the clouds straight ahead of us. The clouds didn't look dark or scary, and those clouds were just another rotation - the real tornado was just out of my sight at that time. I pointed it out to the kids, still feeling pretty upbeat, but told them that we should probably keep a close eye on the weather because clearly conditions were right for a tornado.
Less than a minute later, I saw it. Straight ahead, to the left just a little. I really think it was just a few seconds later, but exact times are one of the parts of the day that are fuzzy to me now. Even after driving back over the route yesterday, I'm still not real clear on how long it took, but I do remember what I saw. It looked like brown clouds, moving sideways, and large chunks of debris flying around. I assume it was parts of roofs, and they were very high up. It took a few seconds for my brain to process it, and I realized that I was looking at the side of a tornado. Reports now say that it was about 4 blocks wide, so I could only see that one side of it, due to the trees blocking my view. But that edge of it that I could see was coming almost straight at us.
So then I was about to be at the stop sign on Yadkin, and was trying to figure out what to do. I remembered hearing that if you're in a vehicle and a tornado is heading toward you, you should get out and lie flat in a ditch. But I had FIVE kids with me! I would have to unbuckle Gabriel and while I'm confident in my ability to act quickly, getting out of the car, opening the back, unbuckling Gabriel, all while directing the kids to do the same, and praying that Xander would actually cooperate so that I wouldn't have to run around to the other side to fold down the middle seat so I could reach him to drag him out.... and then all of us running to the ditch all while a tornado literally RIGHT THERE!? Whether that would have technically been the right option or not, I just didn't feel it was feasible. I knew that if I could get to Yadkin, turn right, I'd be right at the gate and could get on post and get away in time. (of course, that's assuming the tornado wouldn't turn. which it didn't, but still. it wasn't a fail-proof plan). A car was coming so I had to wait, but then got onto Yadkin a lot faster than I normally would have, and pulled up behind the other car. For a second, I was thinking we'd be quickly moving up in the line. But I wasn't thinking about the fact that the guards at the gate needed to get to safety, obviously. But before they did, they'd locked the gates down. We had no where to go.
When we just saw rotation, I'd assured the kids we were safe. It wasn't a tornado. Once I saw it, I'm pretty sure I said, "THAT is a tornado." I don't remember much of what I said, it's a blur. I don't recall the kids talking. I remember telling them we'd be okay, when I was assuming I'd be able to get on post and to safety. Once I was stopped there on the road with no where to go, I wasn't so sure anymore. Looking at the map now, and having seen it 3 days later, I know that we were about 400 feet from where the damage began. At the time, I didn't know if it was coming right at us, passing behind us, or what. It was darker and there was heavy rain and hail and debris.
So, we sat. I told them to pray. I gripped the steering wheel and had my foot hard on the brake, as if either of those would help! It wasn't that I was scared so I gripped, I honestly felt like I needed to do whatever I could to keep the van still. Rationally, that makes no sense. That tornado could have flipped us or picked us up and dropped us off somewhere else like it did many other vehicles. But if I could stop it from budging, I would! I kept glancing into the rear view to see if I could see anything, and over to the side view mirror, but the rain and wind were so bad I couldn't see anything.
I could see Aaric, he was in the 3rd row, right in the middle, so his face was the only one I even saw. I don't think I moved anything other than my eyes the whole time. Aaric looked worried. Maybe not panicked, but not far from it. And I sat there chanting under my breath, "please keep us safe, please keep us safe" over and over. Other than that, I don't recall much of what it was like as it went by. It seemed like forever, but I'm sure it was really less than a minute. Mikayla says she saw debris flying past her window. When I asked how big, she demonstrates that it was brick-sized objects. I'm assuming sticks, shingles, parts of signs that were breaking. I don't recall the sounds at all. I think my ears had just shut down. I vaguely recall hearing, just, the usual roar and chaos of a bad storm - wind, rain and hail, etc. I didn't hear the "train" sound, that I recall. Aaric says he heard debris hitting our roof.
And then, it calmed , and the car ahead of me moved forward. It took me a few seconds to convince my muscles to operate again. When I got to the gate, and I asked the guard, "so, that wasn't my imagination, right? A tornado just went right behind my car, right?" and he says, "well i didn't see it... but i heard some power lines are down." I guess I just wanted some validation that I did indeed just sit through a tornado.
Once I was safely through the gate, I realized that Emily and the Ling's were still at her house, and knew that it was headed straight for them. I didn't have either of their numbers, so I called Darla, who did, and asked her to please let them know. I found out later that they'd heard it coming and hid in the bathroom, which is where they were when she called.
Then I realized that there could still be more storms coming in, so I called Larry to ask him to check the weather for me. He found our county was under 3 tornado warnings, but no details on exact locations. By then, I was home, and it was still raining, and we had no power. I called mom to ask her to check weather too, because Larry had limited information on his phone. Mom couldn't find more details either though. By then, the rain had stopped. It continued off and on for a while, and I kept a watch on the sky. I saw only gray clouds moving quickly in one direction. Soon, I saw blue skies, white clouds, and sunshine. And the bored kids saw mud puddles.
The neighborhood quickly became filled with families talking about their experiences. Many on our street had no idea that a tornado had just gone by a couple miles away. Some were off post and were stuck for a couple hours due to downed trees and traffic.

Once the reports came out, I'm even more amazed that we made it through completely unharmed. Just 400 feet back, there's a damaged gas station. Shingles are off of the roof even closer, but I'm honestly not sure if that roof was in perfect condition before that day. The path of destruction in Fayetteville is an 8-10 mile stripe all the way across some heavily populated parts of town. In all, that one tornado traveled 65 miles. Over 165 homes in Fayetteville are destroyed, with around 150(I don't think they're done with estimates yet though) damaged. Plus all the businesses - and many on Yadkin were destroyed.
Map of the tornado's path
If you click to view the larger image, you can see "Koretizing Dry Cleaning Destroyed" that's on Yadkin, and we were just further up to the north of there. If you keep following the path to All American, the arrow drawn on there just before All American, is on top of Emily's house.

Emily's house is fine. Not a scratch, no downed trees, no damage at all. Just four houses down? Aerial View of the back side of Shortridge

Video tour of the damage on Yadkin and Reilly Roads

Aerial of Yadkin
On the left side of the road, the 2nd building, or used to be a building but is now just a few walls, that was 1000 feet from where we were sitting.

Map of part of the neighborhood
Brunswick is the road I was on when I saw it, and then turned onto Yadkin. Shortridge, all the way in the back, where it's right at All American, is where I was coming from. Monday, I was back in the neighborhood helping out in the home of a friend, which was destroyed. That one is on Northampton. After we finished, the kids wanted to see Emily's block. We carefully drove back there, and then followed the same path back out as Saturday. If we'd been a minute slower on Saturday, we would have been right in the middle of it's path. Homes on both sides of the road on parts of Newcastle are badly damaged or destroyed. Trees were down all along Welsh and Brunswick.
At my friend Recia's house, where Aaric, Mikayla, and I worked yesterday, there's a huge tree that is now partly in her bedroom, bathroom, and closet. Their front wall in their living room is down. The ceiling in the living room and kitchen is down. Their trampoline is missing. Amazingly, a lot of their belongings are still okay, just in need of washing. And their 4 dogs are fine, and the family wasn't home so they're all fine.
Even though we were physically unharmed, and my van doesn't even appear to have any new scratches (or if it does, they blend with the old ones), I've still felt off the past few days. Maybe not fully traumatized, just, not myself. I've been very focused on reading about it, and looking at pictures and videos and talking about it. I kept thinking though, that once the Yadkin gate was open again (it's been closed because the road is blocked down there so there's nowhere to go) I could drive back out there. I could stop wondering just how close it got to us, I'd know. Somehow, I knew that knowing would make my mind settle down. Working at Recia's helped too. I needed to be productive. I sat through it, and then drove off. While others were away from it, and then had to get back into the area to see if they're house was still standing or not. (half the homes are damaged) And then I sat at home feeling helpless. I'm glad I was able to help out. I wish I could do more, but I know I've got 4 kids to raise. My trauma was temporary. Others are now homeless. Many have literally lost everything - their homes, their businesses, their cars. And though I didn't lose a thing, I feel like I'm standing right there with them - thankful to be alive today.

Whether you are local or far away, if you're interested in helping out, let me know and I'll tell you ways you can help.
Now, I need to go run an errand off post before the traffic gets absurd again. You know how the pictures and map showed Shortridge right there at All American? That flattened house, and the other destroyed ones beside it? You can see all of that from All American. So, traffic slows drastically as you're going past that section. All the other roads near the destruction are closed or greatly limited, so a lot of people want to get a glimpse of it. I just want groceries.

*Correction, I just read that the damage path is more like a mile wide.