The thunderstorm awakened me in the middle of the night. Lightning flashed and strong gusts of wind battered our tent from all directions, causing the sides to collapse on us and then spring back. My parents and my four siblings were all awake and wondered if we should evacuate the tent. As the storm continued to rage, we decided to escape to my aunt and uncle’s garage.

My mom unzipped the tent, and the wind beat against us as we sprinted across the wet lawn to the garage. Disoriented, my siblings and I stood inside as my parents ran back to the tent to collect our sleeping bags and air mattresses. Before long, we were settled on the floor of the garage. Despite our weariness, none of us could fall asleep.  My aunt and uncle discovered us in their garage and explained that the wind was carrying away their canopies in the backyard. My dad and uncle ran to retrieve the canopies and brought them into the garage. The commotion ensued as hail began to fall. In my dazed state, I saw my aunt with a towel wrapped around her head dash outside to move the cars. With hail clinking on the metal roof overhead,  I was eventually able to drift off to sleep.