As we were chatting with my mom at her house, the tornado sirens went off. Stupidly, we didn't stop talking about Denver, Macy or what we were going to pack for our upcoming trip to Nova Scotia. A few minutes later Macy, TFitch and I headed in the car for the mile drive to our house. It just started sprinkling at this point. By the time we got out of my parents neighborhood, you couldn't see a damn thing. Wind was blowing rain sideways. It was do dark and dense-feeling, it was almost claustrophobic. Trevor forged ahead in the 4x4 and turned left onto Fort street, where we saw a STOP sign rotating 180 degrees in the wind. Slowly, we cruised down Fort. Cars were pulled off to the side and after we nearly ran into a subdivision sign because of the poor, poor visibility, Trevor decided to do the same. We were sitting at the light at 156th and Fort and at this point it was hailing so hard and was so loud, we both thought the windows were going to shatter. Trevor grabbed my head and covered it, and we both had a hand on Macy in the backseat. Her heart was about to beat through her little furry chest, it was thumping so fast. At that moment, I really, really thought a tornado was going to pick us up or the hail was going to shatter the windows or a streetlight would fall on our car. We sat for a few minutes and Trevor decided he could white knuckle it and we headed home. As we pulled into our neighborhood, he said calmly "Okay, when we get home let's just go straight to the basement."
This storm was absolutely like nothing I have ever witnessed in my 27+ years living in the Midwest. Cell phones weren't working - either because of damage to towers or because so many people were on them. Two people died when a tree fell on the car they were in. More than 126,000 OPPD customers lost power. The Qwest Center, where the Olympic swim trials began this weekend, sustained damage and forced the swimmers into the hallways of the arena after sirens sounded. Water poured into the Qwest, down arena steps and onto the deck of the competition pool. (Ironically enough Trevor's sister's 21st birthday was Friday night and because the Dell, Crescent Moon and other midtown bars we were going to go to had no power, we went to the Mattress Factory across from the Qwest. When we arrived at 9:30 p.m. Kiewit was already on the scene repairing the building.) Friday was also the annual Memorial Park concert and fireworks. People were already at the park when the storm hit and were told to evacuate immediately. Fortunately no serious injuries were reported there.
It's reported this storm had hurricane-strength rain and winds conservatively estimated by meteorologists from 80 - 115 mph. Apparently this was not a tornado, but the damage sure seemed like it was. All of the photos below are those I've taken around the city in the last 48 hours. It's simple unbelievable.
Trevor holding a piece of hail from my parents' deck
Hail in Ron & Mare's grill cover that was blown off
Krispy Kreme (120 & Center) lost its awning
One of hundreds of broken/fallen trees (this one at 42nd and Center)
A tree landed on a home (Leavenworth street, I believe)
Mom and dad's neighborhood - a trampoline on the golf course. Pretty sure that is not supposed to be there.
The stop sign at 168th and Fort we saw rotating in the wind an hour before
The wind took mom and dad's patio furniture for a joy ride
Hail damage on mom and dad's gutter
More crazy furniture and hail
Our neighbor's For Sale sign from the wind (still on the market if anyone is interested...)
Hail, ruined plants (they were looking SO good!) and leaf remnants all over our front porch and house
Looks like snow but it was 80+ degrees outside
Fence at 156th and Fort surrounding our neighborhood
The stoplight at 156th and Fort we were parked under for a while. This was right after the storm. Sky still looks freaky, eh?
Saturday at Big Fred's - they used a generator to prepare food. We ate there and it was surprisingly busy (and obviously dark and no TVs for the watching)
The line of cars dropping debris off at Tranquility Park yesterday. This is one of four directions. It was quite the place to be in Omaha. 
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