Our area got some of the bad weather going across the South last night and a little twister hit our yard last night. While we were lucky that it was small and only minor damage was sustained, many of our friends and family have not been so lucky these past few weeks. I realized, once I was able to collect my thoughts, that when tornado warnings go up, it must be really frightening. Last night everything happened in a matter of seconds. We were in the garage. I was putting laundry in the dryer, my husband was about six feet away (you know, social distancing), Calypso was at my feet, we heard a boom when something hit the power line, everything went black, we heard another sound, and the wind was freezing and was sucked out of the garage, then quiet. Seconds. We have a safe place in the garage, but there literally wasn’t time to move.
We are used to hurricanes. We watch the tracking. We know about when and where it will hit. We know the sustained winds. We know the rain coming. We know the wind gusts. We prepare and we wait. With tornadoes, you may only have split seconds to make a life or death decision. I have family in Oklahoma and friends. One friend posted the other day that she had grown up in Oklahoma and knew what to do and what not to do, but her husband had no experience. He thought he would take their small child and run from it. So, one day that is exactly where she found herself, in the car with their child and her husband who thought he could outrun the tornado. I can’t imagine how frightening that must have been both of them, he, because he had no experience and her because she knew this wasn’t how to handle it.
These were not small branches – 10″ in diameter
Someone I follow on YouTube from Cookville, TN walked around showing the devastation from the tornadoes a couple of weeks ago. He visited with his childhood friend whose home escaped with major-minor damage. He said that they saw and heard the tornado coming and they ran upstairs to grab their three kids as windows were blowing out. It was all over by the time they were halfway down the stairs. Seconds. A 2×6 had flown through the living room window in the meantime. He said it got really quiet and they were thankful, thinking that the neighborhood has missed the brunt of the tornado. Their eleven-year-old opened the front door and said, “Dad, everything is gone.” There was nothing left to the other side of the street. Everything was gone except foundations. Pictures were found in Virginia! Mind-boggling.
I have a new-found respect for all the family and friends I have across what we refer to as tornado alley. They must have nerves of steel. I would probably be making my home in a root cellar at this time of the year. I guess they say the same about our hurricane season. I guess the best thing we can do is remain weather aware and have a plan in case we have time to implement it.
I am not trying to make what we experienced last night into more than it was. We didn’t even have time to be scared. It as minor. It happened so fast that it left us looking at each other wondering what the hell just happened?! It did allow me the opportunity, albeit a very small level, to really understand what people must go through.
Have you been through an eye-opening moment of your own? I invite you to share that moment.
