thedrifter
02-23-09, 07:20 AM
Man Returns from Iraq
Day Before Storm
Last Edited: Sunday, 22 Feb 2009, 11:03 PM EST
Created On: Sunday, 22 Feb 2009, 9:56 PM EST
Darryl Carver
Edited By: Leigha Baugham | myfoxatlanta.com
- John Barnes said Sunday that he got a jarring wake up call from the strong storms that rolled through Metro Atlanta this week. Barnes had just arrived back in Georgia after serving in Iraq.
Barnes and wife likened the sound of the approaching storm to that of 40 cars crossing the finish line at the same time.
Barnes said it was sound unlike anything else he ever heard, even compared to what he saw in the Middle East.
"I was in the safest place in the world I thought, I was surrounded by 20,000 Marines, Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen," said Barnes.
Barnes had just finished working for a year as a contractor in Iraq and had arrived back in Senoia home for a day before the severe storms struck.
"[My wife] closed our bedroom windows and then she went to the kitchen window. She was closing it and she stopped and turned around and said we need to get in the bathroom. And I'm thinking why? That's my first thought and she says get up!" said Barnes.
One tree broke through the wall of the Barnes family home.
"Just as I got back into the bathroom, the window blew out, blew glass into the hallway. You could hear trees snapping, the house was shaking. I was like dear God, I made it through Iraq and you're [going to] bring me home and kill me in a tornado," said Barnes.
Barnes said that after all he went through working in a war zone, the few seconds of the storm Wednesday night were much scarier than anything he saw in Iraq.
Ellie
Day Before Storm
Last Edited: Sunday, 22 Feb 2009, 11:03 PM EST
Created On: Sunday, 22 Feb 2009, 9:56 PM EST
Darryl Carver
Edited By: Leigha Baugham | myfoxatlanta.com
- John Barnes said Sunday that he got a jarring wake up call from the strong storms that rolled through Metro Atlanta this week. Barnes had just arrived back in Georgia after serving in Iraq.
Barnes and wife likened the sound of the approaching storm to that of 40 cars crossing the finish line at the same time.
Barnes said it was sound unlike anything else he ever heard, even compared to what he saw in the Middle East.
"I was in the safest place in the world I thought, I was surrounded by 20,000 Marines, Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen," said Barnes.
Barnes had just finished working for a year as a contractor in Iraq and had arrived back in Senoia home for a day before the severe storms struck.
"[My wife] closed our bedroom windows and then she went to the kitchen window. She was closing it and she stopped and turned around and said we need to get in the bathroom. And I'm thinking why? That's my first thought and she says get up!" said Barnes.
One tree broke through the wall of the Barnes family home.
"Just as I got back into the bathroom, the window blew out, blew glass into the hallway. You could hear trees snapping, the house was shaking. I was like dear God, I made it through Iraq and you're [going to] bring me home and kill me in a tornado," said Barnes.
Barnes said that after all he went through working in a war zone, the few seconds of the storm Wednesday night were much scarier than anything he saw in Iraq.
Ellie