On Sunday as we were driving home from the girls’ graduation party, we ran smack in the middle of a storm. It was a bad storm. One of our nieces called us up on the cell and told us that there had been some tornado touch downs and rotation. We found a talk radio station with the weather, and they said one of the towns we had just passed had some rotation in the clouds. Fabulous.
I was watching the clouds as Brian kept the car on the road through the pouring-almost-white-out rain. I was also shaking. The kids slept through the worst of it. I hate, hate, hate thunderstorms. I take the kids and go to the basement whenever a bad storm blows through. Just in case.
Even straight-line winds are pretty damaging, as we found out last fall. Ever been outside when straight line winds hit? I have, at night, when you couldn’t tell if it was just the wind or a tornado. Scared me bad.
Growing up we had a bad storm hit our house. We were outside riding our horses when we saw the storm systems collide in the sky. The air was electric and we knew it was going to be bad. The horses were turned out so they could run if they needed. When the storm started to rage our next door neighbors came over and we all went down into the root cellar. They didn’t have a basement. We were out of power for a week and lost many trees in our 1/8 mile driveway. I remember my Grandma lost about half the trees in her yard, too, and she lived about a half hour away at the time. Needless to say the chain saws were going non-stop for awhile.
I didn’t get any pictures of the clouds, even though I had my camera with me. I was more concerned with what the clouds were doing than what they looked like.
Unfortunately a little boy lost his life when a tornado hit his house and blew it into a swamp. It’s such a sad story, but the parents came close to losing both their kids. A heroic neighbor gave their daughter CPR when he found her without a pulse. I’m glad to know there are still heros out there.
Yikes!! Storms are scary, scary business, I agree. Being married to a weatherman by trade(that’s his passion and degree, not what his career is in now though)has it’s perks. While he loves the weather, he’s respectful of it’s power. Through him, our hooligans n I have become seriously weather educated–you should hear the terminology around here when weather conditions get wild. That education keeps the respect level high n the fear level manage-able(I can’t spell that today!!). Mostly manage-able…
I wouldn’t have been able to take cloud pics either!
So glad y’all made it home safely and hope this stormy season passes uneventfully for us all!
~~Hugs!
Stay safe. After our close call with the tornado a few years back, both the boys and I get nervous if the storms get bad. I totally get where you’re coming from.
Wow, talk about a good dose of perspective. We’re in WI and we saw all that coverage in MN and felt AWFUL. Stay safe is right!
Yikes, how scary. I’m glad you made it through alright, but so sad for that little boy. Last spring we had one huge storm after another, and some serious damage around here. I’m glad this year has not been a repeat.
I am so glad you are all OK!
We drove through something like that a few years ago and I was terrified–especially since it was just me and the kids. Never want to do it again!
Ok, you must live just outside of the TC like I do! I heard of the little boy that died, too. So so sad. I was at my sister in laws graduation party and it came through quite strong. It lifted a few people off the ground while they were trying to hold the tents down. A tree also broke in half and a branch pierced my in laws roof. All was well, but we could have done without the drama. Glad to hear you were all safe too.
WOW – glad you are all ok – I have always loved thunderstorms but then if they were like that, I am not so sure I would.
oh wow! Happy to hear you are ok, too. I love thunderstorms. But grew up in Florida where hurricanes was a part of life. I’d take a hurricane over a tornado any day, though!
I’m so glad you guys are ok. The tornados do seem to be out in full force this year. Driving through central New Mexico there were several warnings out for us too. Luckily we did not see rotational clouds either.
Although I too remember spending a evening in the basement when I lived in Chicago of all places. The sky turned a sickening shade of green and although the tornado built up it never touched down thank goodness. I have a hard time imagining the damage it would have done in such a populous area.