Thunderstorm was more than an annoyance

I dragged myself out of bed sometime this morning after our thunderstorm alarm went off. Our thunderstorm alarm is a furry, four-legged chow-border collie mix who hates thunderstorms. She tries to scare them away by barking louder than the thunder sounds. She still hasn't figured out that it doesn't work.

I got out of bed, probably sometime around 3:30, let the dog out, turned off the computer and crawled back into bed.

It was not until mid-morning that I heard that the thunderstorms that passed by my home caused tremendous damage and killed two people between Kenly and Elm City. Spectacular photos are on the Wilson Times Web site. That's the strange thing about tornadoes. One spot can be tragically dangerous while a spot a block away is unscathed. Less than a mile from my home, the storm took the roof off a commercial building and snapped telephone poles. What was an annoyance for me was a tragedy for families not far away.