(42 Photos Below)

On the night of May 2nd, 2008...an F-3 Tornado passed over our neighborhood, and more specifically right over our house. It took a bunch of our shingles and some tar-paper off our roof, broke windows, scuffed up the outside our home, bent our garage door, and shifted our house enough that the front door doesn't close quite right. We're going to need a whole new roof and the garage door replaced...plus a variety of other repairs. (Our satellite television isn't working!)

But, our next door neighbor's house is condemned, as in our neighbor's house across the street. Both of their houses had significant portions of their roofs torn off and the interiors/belongings soaked with rain. There is damage to hundreds of homes...two were completely destroyed (just gone), and several were knocked off of their foundations. There were shingles, insulation, pieces of siding and lawn furniture every where...tons of sight-seers for two day, and our power was out for a day and a half.

But, amazingly...no one was killed. There were no serious injures. Some folks were cut with flying glass, but everyone is going to be O.K. No one in my family was hurt. When Jennifer heard the "Freight Train" sound, she gathered our three children up and they all ran to the basement. The sirens did not go off. I was at the police station at the time...and couldn't be home with them.

Its hard not to picture AsaThor battling the destructive forces of this Thurse as it descended on our community...strking it repeatedly with his hammer...rolling in conflict with it as it crashed from the sky to the ground...diverting its path to ensure that the only two homes completely destroyed were empty of people that night. And though the damage was done...the people remain, and we will rebuild. That next day I shared a beer with Thor...and congratulated him on his victory in battle.

Here's some photos....

Our roof was pretty roughed up. Even more shingles have kicked loose at this point, and we have alot of tar-paper exposed.


This is another view of our roof, with losts of plywood exposed...


That's my neighbor Clint and I up on the roof, nailing a tarp over the plywood on my roof...


The wind was really whipping. I had about 3 hours sleep, but this had to get done.


Putting in the final nails...


My wife Jennifer was helping out...taking photos...and cleaning up.


The work is done...this is me up on my roof.


My neighbor Clint declaring victory! Clint's house escaped everything except minor damage, but he was a great help to us.


Our handywork...


Ought to do it until we can get the roofing guys out to put on a new roof.


This broken window was our kids bedroom window. Softball sized hail was found after the tornado.


This is our neighbor's house...Aaron. The missing plywood from his roof flew a block away and was stuck in the side of another house. Aaron's house was condemned for occupancy that afternoon.


Aaron's garage door came loose from its tracks from the pressure of the tornado. Our garage door was still in place, but bent so much we'll have to replace it.


This is our neighbor Clint's playset. It did not make it through the storm.


Another angle of Clint's playset.


This is our neighbor's to the North of us...Rob and Sharon. Wooden playsets did very poorly in the storm.


Another shot of Rob and Sharon's playset. Our playset is metal, and cost about $120 at Walmart. It was undamaged in the storm for some reason. Didn't even tip over.


Aaron and a helper attempting to put tarps on the holes in his roof.


A scene from our roof.


I don't know if you can see them, but there are shingles all over my yard and the neighbor's yards.


More shots of the damage to my roof.


My house had all of this mud and insulation blasted all over it. The wiinds picked up everything, and just blasted everyone's homes with debris.


Patio furniture, and everything else that was lying about was thrown into houses. Our house has gouges and scrapes like this all over it.


A neighbor across the street. Damage doesn't look too bad, but the back of their house (out of view) was really tore up.


Clint's mom...out cleaning up.


There were blue tarps everywhere...


Jennifer cleaning up shingles...she worked very hard cleaning up.


The city's response to the tornado was amazing. As an example, the had these big trash trucks circling our neighborhood all day picking up garbage, shingles, wood, or whatever else you were able to drag to the curb.


The kids weren't going to let a tipped over playset stop their fun. They made a whole game out of it, and said they were playing "Titanic." The boy and girl in the middle are my Nathan and Elizabeth. Ethan is the smaller boy near the top.


Aaron in good spirits considering. His roof was tarped, his garage and windows boarded up, and he was off to stay in a hotel.


We drove around and took some photos to show some of the damage that was done. The whole side of this garage exploded outward.


The orange sticker was the city's declaration that no one was supposed to stay in these homes until they were repaired, because of the severe amount of damage to the homes.


This is near the area where the tornado did the most damage...


This was a home. Can you see where it used to be. Its completely gone.


This is another angle. See the cement stairs climbing up to nothing?


The remains of another house...


A lot of people were moving all their belongs out, to prevent further damage to them.


Another shot of ground-zero of where the tornado touched down...


And another. The homes completely destoyed were empty, but some heavily damaged homes did have people in them. Everyone survived.


Tornados are so incredibly powerful....


The day after the tornado. The kids were tired, but in good spirits. This is Joshua...


Nathan and Elizabeth. The night before they had been very scared, but had listened well to their mother. They handled it all really well...


Hail Thor!

Mark

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Mark Ludwig Stinson
Chieftain of Jotun's Bane Kindred

OH MY GODS! I'm thankful your family was safe and that your home withstood the worst of it. Also, thanks be to friends and kin who came to your aid on the temporary repairs. HAIL RED BEARD!!

I have weathered a few of these types of storms in my time living up in North Dakota and Montana, but never this severe and this close! Thank the Gods that nobody was seriously harmed, and that your family survived unscathed.

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Jeffrey Jelmeland
Forest Grove, OR
Quote:

HAIL THOR! He had a powerful Skywyrm to fight this time. Hail to him for keeping the Skywyrm from taking a life, and my Chieftain and his family safe.

I shall get a special gift for Thor in thanks.

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Be Trْ to the Gods and Goddesses,
Be Trْ to the Ancestors, Vaettir, and your Folk,
and most importantly,
Be Trْ to Yourself.
Simply be Heathen in all things.

Rod Landreth
Godhi of Jotun's Bane Kindred

Thank Gods you're all ok! Bet you all needed one of these afterwards! Looks like you live in a nice community there Mark, helping each other out like that - good on you all! What a shame for some folks houses though - they're ruined! Hope their insurance will cover it!

Rod does right to want to gift the Hammer Hurler for keeping you all safe - he deserves it!

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"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts." Winston Churchill
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/northanhymbreheathens/

Glad you and yours are OK.

-Max-

Thanks to everyone who's taken a look at the photos and commented. As I left home for work, the storm was coming in. I could not miss work...I was needed at work. Before I left, I had told the kids (who were in bed) not to be scared of the lightning and thunder...it was just Thor fighting Jotuns...and hammering them on the head.

Then on the way to work, I spoke with Thor...and asked him to watch over my family during the time that I could not...and to protect our community from this massive storm.

So, when the tornado passes directly over my house and neighborhood...and the only houses completely obliterated were empty of people...and despite heavy damage to many homes no one was killed or seriously hurt...you have make a choice. Chalk it all up to chance, science, and weather patterns -OR- give the man his due. For me, its clear. I give AsaThor his due.

From my perspective it was a massive fight...but he battered the thurse aloft for as long as he could...and at a particularly violent part of the fight as they crashed to earth, Thor did what he could to avoid occupied houses...eventually sending the thurse to his grave.

And there were all these heroic human moments as well. There's the father that ran to the bedroom to get his 2-year-old right as the windows exploded inwards. The man shielded his 2-year-old, but the man needed stitches in his hands, ears, arms, and legs.

There's my wife, who scooped up the kids, rushed them to the basement, and kept the calm for over an hour down there.

There's the police officers and firemen that went house to house on the heavily damaged houses, making sure everyone was alright and no one was dead. One police officer told me that a ceiling almost fell in on them when they were in one house.

There's all the neighbors that came outside into the backyards after the tornado passed, calling to each other by voice and by phone to make sure everyone was alright.

There's all the neighbors that were out helping drag debris to the curb. Helping put tarps on roofs (thanks, Clint!). The city workers picking up debris, inspecting homes for habitability, and fixing all the gas leaks and powerlines.

Anyway. As horrible as a tornado is...the fact no one was killed, and watching everyone work together made this an interesting experience.

Mark

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Mark Ludwig Stinson
Chieftain of Jotun's Bane Kindred

Mark,
Glad to see/ hear that you and your family is doing well after that long night. Fortunately, like you said no one was home during that!

I had all my prayers and thoughts on the clan that night. I had the night off and was watching it come in from my living room couch. I heard about all the warnings that night and am very surprised that they didn't blast the sirens in your area! About all we got this far south from you all was just a lot of rain and a little wind.
Again, I'm glad that you are all right!!!

Thanks, Tom. They blew the sirens at around 8:00 PM when the storm had those hook-patterns, or whatever.

But the formations that created the tornado(s) in the middle of the night was a "bow" formation, and I'm hearing its just impossible to predict a tornado out of one of those. That's what they are saying, anyhow. If I ever see one of those "bow" shaped storms again, I'm headed for the basement!

Mark

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Mark Ludwig Stinson
Chieftain of Jotun's Bane Kindred

Amazing photos Mark! My family and I just got our power turned on late last night. We too had damage within our neighborhood. Trees and power lines were down everywhere.

Excellent to see your wife and kids are ok.

Hail the hurler!


craig

I called to check on you, that next day but your cell phone kept disconnecting me, and I figured you were at work, so I didn't call your home. I'm glad you guys are O.K.

I've spoken with Alex and Sarah several times. That tornado that hit Gladstone hit fairly near to them. The Margarita's restaurant and the pawn shop that were severely damaged are right down the road from them. They surveyed the damage in their apartment complex, and their building is the only one that wasn't damaged within the whole complex. They were deciding what to give Thor in thanks for his victory...

Mark

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Mark Ludwig Stinson
Chieftain of Jotun's Bane Kindred

Yes my cell is off during the day while I'm at work. I too finally spoke with Alex last night as well. I guess there was a police presence at the pawn shop to discourage looters.

Maybe tonight at the pubmoot we should set a nice stout aside for Thor's victory.


craig

Tornadoes are a force to be reckoned with by the Gods, we humans can only stay out of their way.
Sadly, the series of storms that night did take 7 lives in Arkansas, but Kansas City was fortunate to have a defender.

I remember the Tornado on June 8 1966 that demolished Topeka, I was 12 years old at the time, old enough to know what was happening, and to read about it the next day. My family drove around town and surveyed the damage, it was an experience.

I'm glad you and your family and your Kindred are all safe. Rest up, Thor, there's liable to be more battles like this one!

Without television, I had not heard about the deaths in Arkansas. That's sad to hear, Wil. I have a feeling this was a memory that my two oldest kids will never forget.

I did set aside a Stout for Thor, at the Pubmoot...and snuck just far enough off property to pour it at the base of a nearby tree at the end of the evening...



Mark

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Mark Ludwig Stinson
Chieftain of Jotun's Bane Kindred

Elaine Blakely posted this poem on the Heathen News Yahoo e-list, and with permission I share it here.

Mark

Quote:

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Mark Ludwig Stinson
Chieftain of Jotun's Bane Kindred

Mark,
Sorry this is a bit late, and sorry i haven't been on the forum for a while, but I wanted to tell you how glad i am that you and your family and neighbors were unharmed!!!
Jenny in Wichita

Thank you, Jenny. We appreciate it...



Mark

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Mark Ludwig Stinson
Chieftain of Jotun's Bane Kindred

I too am sorry this is late as I also have been away. I just want to say you have a hell of a wife. I know how badly she must have wanted you home and to have the strength to take care of the kids and things at home while you were away helping others. She is a rare woman and a keeper. I am glad you and yours are safe and warm..

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Tara

I could not agree more. Hail Jennifer!

We are definitely safe and warm, and our neighborhood is looking pretty good lately. A lot less blue tarps, and a lot of new roofs around here.



Mark

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Mark Ludwig Stinson
Chieftain of Jotun's Bane Kindred