Crazy Weather…
We had some crazy weather the other night. I woke up at 4 am to a tornado siren, (which I did not know my town had) and heard wind and rain and thunder that shook our house. The rest of the day the weather continued to come and go, with hail, and wind and the occasional tornado warning. It was not a day to be outside at all.
Growing up in CA, the most extreme things I ever experienced were earthquakes. When they were over, they were over, and you definitely knew when they were there. The thing with tornados, is I just have no clue what to look for, or when it’s over. It really scares me! The kids and I literally set up a tent downstairs near our hallway which is the only area of our house with no outside walls, which they advise is the safest place. Our dog shook and panted, and literally sat in my lap, while we patiently waited for it to all be over. I’m beginning to wish our house had a basement!
I guess my fears were realized when I saw this from the newspaper today:
“2 dead, dozens injured as homes lie in ruins after tornado” ~The Tennessean
These poor people…
April 11th, 2009 at 10:03 am
We, too, live in part of “tornado alley”. I hate storms that have those icky, green clouds. I hate the guys on TV who talk about the tornadoes on the ground like that are just a passing storm. I really hate thunder that rattles the windows.
My husband would be the one outside watching that “passing” storm. Most homes here don’t have basements either. But, we have neighbors that have an in-the-ground storm shelter. We spent our anniversary down there 1 year! In the 20 years we have been in this house, we only been down there 4 or 5 times. Probably should have been more. Glad you guys survived. I know it’s harder with Brody gone. Just another week of this year’s Roadshow…..
April 11th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
Glad to hear you have warning sirens. Our lives were changed when the tornado hit Nashville on April 16, 1998. My son’s best friend, Kevin, was injured when a huge tree was uprooted and landed on him in Centennial Park. On the way to the hospital Kevin lost consciousness and never woke up again. He lived for about 2 weeks and died on May 4th. This devastated our family, Kevin was like a son to us. Nashville did not have working sirens at that time and they never knew about the tornado. He was at the park with his ROTC group and they were have a picnic. Kevin was 2 weeks away from graduating with 2 degrees and to be commissioned as an Army officer. It will be 11 years next Thursday since this happened and it still feels as if it were just yesterday. His mom worked very hard after his death to get working sirens in Nashville so that no other person would be in this situation of not knowing. I don’t mean for my post to be so long but this is a subject very dear to my heart. I do want to mention one more thing because to me it was one of the most bitter sweet moments I have ever experienced in my life. My son is the type that he tries so hard not to show his emotions and not cry in front of people. And he did well with this until the day of the funeral. At the graveside I stood back away from my son to give him some space by himself. He did well until the very end and he just broke down. One of his friend’s came and just held on to him and then I couldn’t stand it any longer and held on to him too. Then one by one his friends came and we just held one another in a big hug with my son in the center. I thought at that very moment, that for something so tragic to have happened this was the sweetest moment to have all the friends together comforting my son.
April 12th, 2009 at 7:39 am
Paisley~ that is a sad story, I can imagine that would have been very hard on your son.
I have heard stories from local people about tornados, one person said they slept through the storm, but woke up with their porch gone!
Shellie~ glad to hear that you stayed safe. I really don’t understand why homes are not built with basements or storm shelters around here!