That's the Night when the Lights Went Out in Walmart...

...sung to the tune of Reba's song "That's the Night when the Lights Went Out in Georgia".

But instead the lyrics should go:
That's the night when the lights went out in Walmart
That's the night when the door flew off the hinge
Go to the center of the store and you're not allowed to depart
Until the winds die down and the storm comes to an end.

Tonight Jacob and I ran out to Walmart to pick up a few things before Bible Study.  On our way, it started pouring rain....and then hailing.  But, we continued on our way because the storm was behind us and we were headed away from it.  Upon getting to Walmart the winds were picking up, trees were bent over-- you get the picture.  So we ran in trying to avoid getting soaked.  Instead, we got in Walmart and no more than 2 minutes later, the power went out.

Have you ever been in a store as big as Walmart with no electricity?  Each time the lights flickered, the generators took about 5-10 seconds to kick in the emergency lights.  It was literally pitch black.  Kids screaming, people yelling, sheer chaos.  So after the lights went out and came back on twice, the electricity finally gave out for good.  Here is what Walmart looks like without power:

So, we continued to shop until hearing the workers say, "Get to the center of the store."  So, we started walking to the center of the store.  Apparently, there was a miscommunication between the workers because then we got in trouble for going back through the store...haha!!  What they really meant was, go to the center of the front of the store (near the cash registers).  On our way back up to the front center, we heard a HUGE crash and looked just in time to see one of the automatic sliding doors fly off of its hinges and crash into another one of the doors.  Soon after that a light flew out of the ceiling in the corridor area.  Needless to say, I was FREAKING out.

Well, Walmart wasn't letting people leave until the storm passed so we ended up sitting in the dark in Walmart for a solid hour. It was pure chaos....babies screaming, people spreading rumors about tornadoes, employees running around.  Once they started allowing people to leave, we made a run for it....literally.  But, we did take time to take a few pictures of the craziness.

The door off of its hinges...

I tried to get a picture of the light hanging out of the ceiling but they wouldn't let you get anywhere near it.  Here is what was in the middle of the aisle we parked on:

As you can see, the shopping cart return station blew into the middle of the parking lot aisle.  In the middle of the parking lot, there was easily a foot of water.  There was a KIA that had water sitting up to the top of its tires.  Unbelievable.

In the back of the Walmart parking lot was (the key word here being was) a fireworks tent.  When we came out, the tent had blown over and been torn and bent to shreds.  The fireworks were strewn across the parking lot and soaked. Ruined.

We ended up not getting anything from Walmart because the electricity was still out when we left.  So, we left empty handed with only a good story to take away.  We were a little late for Bible Study (at our own house), but had a great time once everyone arrived.

Next time you go to Walmart, just imagine, "What would it be like with no lights?"