Just call us Tornado Alley...

2011 has been the year of crazy weather for Rome. It started with a week long adventure with snow and ice in January. More snow in February. (Both of which I didn't mind one bit. I love snow!) In April, we were ravaged by storm after storm. Multiple run ins with straight line winds and tornadoes. My beloved Alma Mater was in the middle of the destruction. This summer brought weeks of rain and weeks of no rain. We had seven+ inches fall over a short period 2/3 day period at one point this year. As we headed in to December I was some what relieved and ready for 'winter' weather.

Well, I should have known better. The first day of winter was unseasonably warm...low 70s and rainshowers. That evening I was suppose to go by myself to Cartersville to coupon/shop at Publix and go to Target. Andy was going to stay home and I was going to get a night to myself. That changed around 4:30 when the weather picked up. A few minutes before five I checked the weather and it said that the conditions were favorable for a tornado. About that time the wind picked up and I thought that the roof was going to be pulled off the house. I couldn't see outside the windows. The lights flickered three times and then went out. I tried getting a hold of Andy and he said that he was trying to make his way home but that the weather was crazy on their side of town too.

By the time he got home the power was still off so we packed the kids up and headed to Cartersville. Thinking surely by the time we returned that the power would be back on. After dinner at Chick-fil-A, Target, and Publix we loaded the kids up and headed home. We had been checking our phones to find info on the Rome News-Tribune but found nothing. Well, we got home and no dice. Power was still out and AG was running around thinking it was the best thing ever. Ha. We finally got everyone in bed and then we crawled in to bed. Andy turned on an app he had on his phone...which happens to be the police/fire dispatch. Yep, we laid in bed trying to hear if we could catch any info on to what was going on. I was sure that we'd wake up in the middle of the night and the power would have been restored. I slept horribly. In the morning Andy called the office and told them he was going to be at home due to our lack of power. He picked up breakfast and then we took the kids out to do some errands. While out I decided to drive down our old street to see how it looked. I was near tears as I drove down our old street. Every house that surrounds the house we rented was hit...including the house Andy lived in when were dating. Late in the afternoon we got word that it was indeed a category F2 tornado that ripped across West Rome. Right at the 24 hour mark our power was restored and I was forever grateful. Thankfully, the night before the temps were moderate and it wasn't a big deal to not have power. However, the next day the temps began to plummet and we were seriously contemplating packing up and heading to my parents because we couldn't stay a second night without power.

My plan to finish making Christmas presents was foiled. Everything was kind of thrown off including my baking and cooking for the weekend. In the end what we could finish was finished and I didn't worry about the rest. I was just immensely grateful that we were once again spared. This year has been incredibly challenging for our little area. I'm praying that this next year is not as eventful...although I wouldn't mind a good snow storm. :)

Far Up In The Hills...

Far up in the hills of Georgia stands,

Old Berry tried and true

The Shrine of many a memory of 

The Silver and the Blue.

Our loyalty and love we pledge, 

God keep thee without fail,

Be thou the light that shines for right, 

Alma Mater, Hail, All Hail!

Early today I had some time and tried to sit down and post these pictures to the blog of some of the on-going clean-up efforts at our beloved Alma Mater. For whatever reason the internet wouldn't let me upload them at the time. Anyways, Andy came home and brought in the mail and when he did there was an envelope from Berry addressed to us with the writing,"At 8:32 a.m. on April 27, intense winds blasted through the Berry Campus...". Guess it was a sign I should try and post my pictures again. 

In a previous post I commented about how the trees on campus are one of the things that makes Berry so special. Over 500 trees fell that day. The reality is that when you are the worlds largest college campus, in acres, there is no way to know how many trees actually fell that day. Most likely thousands across the 26,000+ acres that make up Berry. I am so very thankful that they've decided to create a fund to be able to help restore the campus. One of the most beloved trees on campus fell, the Graduation Tree, which has presided over countless spring commencement exercises. Thankfully, far up in the hills Old Berry still stands. It's one of the reasons why I'm so grateful that we still live in Rome because we get to spend as much time on campus as we want. Two years ago, in a previous post, I wrote the following, "I love the fact that we live so close to Berry. I love the fact that when I’ve had a long day I can retreat to the campus that I’ve loved since I was a little girl because somewhere in those 26,000 acres my soul finds rest. " That statement continues to ring true. It is my hope and prayer that our children would have a special bond with the campus that I so dearly love. 

Here are some pictures I took a few weeks back of the clean-up efforts around campus:

Some of the damage at the tennis courts...I can't get over the poles in a wave pattern.

Where the big patch of dirt is in the middle of the picture is where the graduation tree use to reside. It was a massive Willow Oak that was over 80 years old. That building is the Greene Building and it is home to the Campbell School of Business. Andy spent the bulk of his time in this building.

This is the service entrance to Berry and during the week it is open for people to drive up and down. As you drive down it, away from campus, the President's House faces you. In this picture there are still so many trees down you can't even see President Briggs' house. The service entrance is a favorite spot among students, faculty, and alumni. It use to be completely tree lined and had the most gorgeous fall foliage you've ever seen. It was my favorite way to enter/leave campus in the fall. I need to dig through my college photos to pull out a picture of it in all its glory. I had specifically not taken any pictures of AG at this site yet because I was hoping for us to do some this fall as a family with our photographer. Sadly, that won't happen now....at least not at this particular spot.

Since these photos were taken they've cleared out even more of the trees on the service entrance.

This use to be Dorothy Cottage. The cottage area on campus is a century old and these are some of the first buildings on campus built by students. The cottage area is also home to Barnwell Chapel and the Child Development Center.

This is Julia Cottage and it was cut in half by multiple trees. It is used as faculty housing. 

Old, old trees waiting to be picked up.

After World War 1 Martha Berry had an allee created to memorialize the 11 Berry boys that died in the war. This road is known as Memorial Drive and it was planted with oaks. Over the years disease and drought had taken out about 1/3 of the trees. During this last year they had begun to replace these trees with new ones, Willow Oaks, and then they would take down the old ones every so often. Well the storm helped them with this project as you can see by this picture.

If you want to see more pictures taken immediately after click here and here.

Straight Line Winds...

I had never heard of straight line winds until Saturday when it was determined that a tornado was not the cause of the damage on our side of town. Just winds blowing straight at 80 mph! For you weather gurus that puts the winds whipping around Rome equivalent to what you would find with Category 1 Hurricane. This was our third storm of the month and the second time we lost power for an extended period. We ended up leaving the house to grab dinner at Waffle House on the other side of town since EVERYTHING on our side of town didn't have power. Including half of Turner McCall. Here are some pictures from this latest round:

Pea sized hail was everywhere.

Our house is covered in leaves due to the winds.

Our neighbor's tree fell and it took out our power. It also made traveling down Terrace impossible.