Storm
ByThe other day, when I took those photos of peace, I was sitting at a park situated on the grounds of our town’s middle school.
The next day, also known as Wednesday, also known as the first day of school, at 7:40 pm., an F2 tornado hit.
The second day of school was cancelled.
Any one of my friends will tell you that I am a weather freak. I’m always letting them know of watches and warnings going on, I’m always sensitive to the weather that surrounds me. I get it from my Dad and also my Grandma.
Growing up, my Dad used to watch two things on TV, The Cubs and The Weather Channel. ALL OF THE TIME. (okay, and the Bull and the Bears.) When storms were approaching, we were outside watching.
For Christmas a few years ago, my parents got all six of their kids a NOAA Weather Radio. It’s SO LOUD and annoying but makes me feel better. The other night, a few hours before the storms hit, I emailed my friends and said “Tornado Watch until 7:15, be careful!”
I sat with Anna on the couch and watched the sky but the thing about this storm was how calm it was, hardly any thunder, barely any lightning, it did finally rain hard, but then it stopped. She and I were sitting on the couch as I watched the sky turn green, the rain and wind stopped. I got up and looked at the sky and almost grabbed my camera, but I didn’t want to draw attention to the storm as Anna is terrified of them and crawls up my leg and the first sight of a rain drop on the sidewalk.
Anyway, I went upstairs and motioned for Brian that the weather outside was frightful, fortunately, nothing happened. However, as it moved further north, it intensified and within a few miles, a tornado formed.
The tornado sirens never went off. People were literally sitting, watching TV when their roofs were ripped off.
No one was injured, school was cancelled yesterday, but man, you should have seen this community yesterday rockin’ it out and everyone pitching in. Even though the middle school sustained most of the damage, school is in session today.
And I have pictures, of course. The areas hit the hardest were closed off. As we drove around, the sight of uprooted trees, the sound of helicopters flying around the area and the scent of fallen pine trees filled the senses with a sense of uneasiness, but also a reminder of how lucky we were.
This pavilion is where the kids and I had a picnic on Tuesday.
My friend Nancy was personally affected by the storm. You can visit her and read her account and see additional photos. Arianne wrote a beautiful post with an unbelievable video. Check them out.
Seriously…. I wouldnt leave from my bathtub (isn’t that where you are supposed to hide????) For a very long time..
Me and Anna would be too pea’s in a pod there!
Yeah, but we have a basement, so when the sirens go off, we head there. We usually only have these storms like three times a year, it’s not a big deal!
Scary. I am terrified of tornadoes. Which is unfortunate, since I live in North Texas and we have warnings many times a year. I try to put on a brave face so my kids don’t freak out. I need a weather radio, especially since we have satellite and a light breeze and three drops or rain ruins the signal. So glad y’all are okay and that the damage done can be repaired and that no one was injured. Yikes.
Craziness! I personally LOVE storms too. My hometown (100 miles from here) was hit by an EF4 in July and the devastation was so astounding. Glad you are all safe!
I am a storm lover too. Every tornado warning I’ve been in, has had me outside. It’s sick.
I used to have a weather radio when I lived in Alabama, although it was always complemented by the tornado sirens there. I live in Maryland now, and there have been several small tornadoes around where I live. Unfortunately, there are no sirens here. From your post, I’m tempted to get my weather radio back from my parents!
I love storms! But we only get thunder and lightening here.
We get earthquakes for natural disasters. They are only cool if you’re not in a highrise…
Glad you all are ok!
scary… glad you are okay.
When I lived in PA,(where tornados are not frequent, and when they do occur, are extremely minor) we had a strong F3 (200 mph winds) hit a 1/4 mile from my house. I was home at the time, power went off, saw the sky turn green (I am a tornado addict – love to study them, but terrified nonetheless) grabbed the dogs (no kids at the time) and headed for the basement. By the time I got down there, the weather was better. Little did I know the damage that ocurred not far away. 7.5 mile long damage path, 80 homes turned into matchsticks and another hundred damaged. Only a few injuries, no deaths, just amazing. Now that I am out here (without a basement) where tornado warnings are prevalent, I am never quite comfortable during storms.
Here is some footage.
http://www.patornado.com/tornadopictures.asp
Um, yeah. That’s scary. I’m glad no one was hurt!
I am one of those people that will be ripped out of my house b/c I stand near windows or on my porch and watch for the big ugly clouds & lightning. We don’t get too many tornadoes around here, but there are warnings once or twice a year.
Growing up, we lived in a trailer, and I remember sitting in the hall one night when one went right around us. That was pretty scary.
Yet, I still love storms and act like an idiot when they’re around. Poor E is terrified of them, but we’ve never made them scary? Must be instinctual?
I just want to let everyone know that you speak the truth about being a weather freak, but it’s awesome because you are like my own personal weather app.
Also, when I was in 5th grade, a tornado put a tree through the roof of my bedroom, and so just like with turkeys, I now have a personal vendetta with tornadoes, as well.
I love storms! I grew up on the northern coast of California, and I can vividly remember my mom and I trudging out to the closed beach to watch the furious ocean during some of the bigger storms. It gives your a whole new respect for mother nature.
Living on the west coast most of my life, we never had any “weather” to turn me into a weather freak of any kind. I have no idea what a NOAA radio even is!
I didn’t get word there was a tornado watch, but if it expired at 7:15 that explains why I checked at 7:25 (when it rained for 5 minutes and then abruptly stopped) and there were no alerts. I also think if all my neighbors hadn’t been outside as well, we wouldn’t have been just sitting there watching the huge monster cross the highway and continue north. Surreal!
Amazing how fine the line is between being untouched and devastated in a situation like this…
P.S. glad you liked the post.
So glad you’re ok. What a scare!
Here’s hoping for no more storms for the rest of the season
Oh my goodness, look at that damage. It could’ve been SO much worse but I’m so thankful seemingly no one was hurt. So scary! *hugs*
Wow, scary! We had a Tornado hit several parts of Ontario yesterday. A little boy was killed which was very sad. Several homes were destroyed in the Toronto area. We live in the Northern part of Ontario so weren’t affected, thank goodness!
It was a little on the scary side. But, except for the green sky, we didn’t know we were supposed to be scared. Which, is what makes it scary in retrospect.
So glad no one was seriously hurt. And that school was out for the day and there were not 900 middle schoolers in that building when it hit.
So glad all we have to worry about are blizzards! Glad you are safe.
How you described is how it was here in the spring – greenish sky, calm, heavy rain then it stopped, eery. Our town was hit by an EF-4 tornado on Good Friday. I was at work about 25 minutes away, watching it on the local channel’s website. At one point the rotations were shown above us, above our sitter’s house and our house. It was definitely a day of prayer! We were blessed that day that we were all fine. It is amazing how a community comes together in the aftermath. My sister-in-law is from Chesterton so I had heard about this. I hope the recovery efforts go well!
wow, crazy. i love storms but they are never quite as exciting down here in wv. i remember being laughed at in the teacher’s lounge when i questioned why we didn’t have tornado drills… we did in PA, and they only get small tornados and microbursts and such.
Man, the second day of school canceled for tornado clean-up? Who would have thought? SO GLAD you four were out of harm’s way, and that things are getting back to normal.
WOW, that is scary.
A weather radio.
Now THAT is the perfect gift for a weather geek. (I’m in the ranks.)
We had one of those weird storms go through here (Minneapolis) last week too. There weren’t even any watches or warnings out. And all of a sudden — sirens.
It makes it real when it touches down in such a familiar area, doesn’t it?
I am so glad that you and your family is safe. Seeing the videos you passed on on Thursday the damamge is substantial, but could have been worse.
THank goodness it was at night and not during the school day!