A tornado passed about 2 1/2 miles east of our house early yesterday morning. Although we experienced high winds, we were far enough away that there was no damage. Others were not so lucky.

First, the details:

The tornado consisted of winds nearly 155 mph, which puts it at the extreme top end of the F2 range on the Fujita Scale. The base was about 300 yards wide and it was on the ground for about 7 miles. There was one fatality.

Some horse breeder/trainer friends of ours had their barn and riding arena demolished. Support beams that were in the ground 6 feet or so with concrete footings were plucked up and one was even reinstalled some distance away and was planted deep enough that a person couldn't move it. Luckily, there was no significant damage to their house, but some of their horses sustained injuries, one rather seriously.

Other's in the county lost everything. One couple had not only their home smashed, but also the wife's small antique store and the husband's small engine repair shop.

This is the closest I've ever been to a tornado and I don't want to be any closer. The path was fairly thin, but the damage within that path is awe-inspiring. The news footage doesn't do justice to the debris that is strewn all over or to the large trees that are either snapped off or pulled out of the ground, roots and all. I can't imagine what the aftermath of an F4 or F5 would look like. I hope I never find out.

I guess if there's a bright side it's that there were not more people killed and that we have some nice, new telephone poles along our road.