Airshow Disaster

Here we are, dripping wet and muddy, waiting on word about the air show.

Matt and Wade went to the Airshow on Saturday, spending almost the entire day in the sun while I helped Manda cook and clean. :) Since I missed the show on Saturday, Matt agreed to go back on Sunday so that I could see the Blue Angels.

After church, we grabbed lunch and ran a couple of errands. By the time we got back to the house, I was whipped. I had to talk myself into getting dressed and heading back out into the sun instead of lying down to take a very tempting nap. We lathered up on sunscreen and headed out of the house with the top down. As we were driving up to the air field, one of the aerobatic shows was just beginning to start.

We parked as close to the street side entrance gate as possible (since Matt and Wade were stuck in traffic for a very long time the day before trying to leave), and started our 25 mile hike to the air field. About half way there, we could see a thick rain cloud in the distance. I lamented that I goofed and forgot to grab the umbrella I keep in the car door. Matt said that we probably wouldn't have time to make it to the car before it started raining anyway, so we just accepted the fact that we were about to get soaked.

Matt had to take a few weather classes as part of his Aviation Management degree at Auburn, so he informed me that it looked like it would rain really hard for about ten to fifteen minutes and then be over with. All right. I might as well get ready for it, since I pretty much have no choice in the matter.

It started raining. And boy did it rain. It started out as the nice soft fat drops, then turn into the stinging sideways rain that felt like a million tiny needles on my legs and arms. Matt, being the gentleman that he is, walked upwind from me and shielded me from a good bit of the rain needles.

People were running out towards the parking lot (they must've gotten there early and grabbed some of those parking spots that weren't a 20 minute hike away). Families were huddled under a single umbrella. Matt and I were completely soaked by this point and kind of over the fact that it was raining. A lot of kids were just screaming in fear and wailing at the top of their lungs (which, I have to admit, probably was a pretty traumatic experience for them).

Matt and I couldn't help ourselves and just started laughing. Yep, it's raining! Yep, it's windy! But, there wasn't any thunder and we felt pretty safe. After all, my clothes would eventually dry out when this was all over with.

As we finally got to the gates, the rain started to settle down and the sun came back out almost immediately. We walked through the cargo planes and helicopters (it's much cooler when you take a Black Hawk familiarization course for work and actually get to climb on top of those things!). As we made our way towards the other end of the airfield, ambulances started racing past us. Lots of ambulances, police cars, fire trucks, and even a swat team vehicle pulled onto the run way. We looked over and could see a lot of poles sticking up where tents should be.

We sat around for a while, hoping to see the air show (after all, it was nice and sunny by now). Then a guy came through the crowds yelling, "If you have your party, return to your vehicles!" Matt said that if the show was canceled, we'd leave. Otherwise, we were staying.

We finally got confirmation that there were some serious injuries in the tents when they blew over and that because of that, the show was canceled. :( We started the long hike back to the car.

When we got home that afternoon, we turned on the tv and saw the news reports that a 5 year old child had died in the storm, and 12 other people were injured. Matt told me that it's hard to understand what God's got planned for us sometimes, and this was especially hard to understand.

Right now, I'm just thankful that we only had to deal with a few minutes of stinging rain, and no structures collapsing on us. I sure was wishing we were under one of those tents when the bottom fell out, but am now so glad that we got wet instead.