Tornado? No way....

(Thanks for the photo wiki!)

Tornado? I just didn't believe it. I live in the Midwest and have experienced PLENTY of incidents of tornado weather. We were not experiencing tornado weather.... we had steady rain all day and into the night. We noticed a few flashes of lightening; our power went out briefly -- just a flicker really. There was no wind.... at least not at our house.

Just over one mile away the tornado hit.

The roof was ripped off one building only to be dropped upon another building. Cars were tossed and property were ruined. Trees were downed. Luckily, nobody was injured or killed.

I had heard the tornado sirens and sent the family to the basement (a treat for the kids since it was past bed time). I looked online but didn't see anything on radar (yeah, I must fancy myself as a part time meteorologist in addition to my soccer mom skills). I looked outside (I know, you are thinking I'm brilliant to risk opening the front door to a raging tornado) and I thought,

"Huh, wonder if someone accidentally set off the sirens.... there is nothing going on out here...." I walked out on the front porch and looked around.

There was no wind and the rain had actually stopped.

I decided the sirens must be due to a civil emergency. Perhaps a chemical spill due to a train jumping a track? Maybe an industrial accident a few miles away? I shut the door to avoid poisonous fumes (now you know I'm a rocket scientist, do you not?)

Then I decided perhaps there was an escaped mental patient or homicidal killer on the loose.

I locked the doors.

I then called the non emergency police number and was told by a frantic dispatcher that there WAS a tornado sighted in the area -- "Take cover." She hadn't said hello; she hadn't let me speak. She then hung up on me. Wow, I thought. She must be getting a lot of calls! (I'm betting she would not have hung up on someone who called 911, at least I hope not!)

I called my dad and my sister and told them to take cover -- neither had heard the sirens. It wasn't until this morning that I realized I didn't call my brother (who actually lives 2 blocks closer to the tough down site than I do!). Oops.... sorry Bro.... Dad probably called him... yeah that's it....

::::::please look away breifly as the guilt of not calling him consumes me:::::::

When I was a kid and in Brownies. I did actually see a tornado. We had to stop our arts and crafts and take cover.... on the way to a more secure area I looked out window of the school door. I looked across the playground and open fields and saw the massive gray spinning destruction. I heard the freight train noise too. I thought it was pretty cool. Yeah, when you are a kid you just don't think about who could be hurt or killed, you just think, "WOW, that looks cool!"

I'm glad nobody was hurt then or now. I'm taking note... weather is unpredictable and your safety can be in jeopardy quicker than you want to know.... I will heed the sirens and go to my basement instead of the front porch..... We are so used to the signs (massive wind, green sky, hale)... sometimes there are no warnings.

But, next time we will use the imposed basement time for cleaning vs. playing chess.... my basement has become the proverbial "pit of despair." What is it about an unfinished basement that makes clutter multiply?

Also, Wonder Boy beat me in that chess game. Boy that kid is smart!