Last night, the tornado sirens were wailing....
It used to terrify me every time, but I guess I have just become ambivilent to them for the most part. They blow a lot here. The weather was awful yesterday--in the 70's and thundering and raining. It was one of those sticky, still nights. I don't mind it so much when it blows--the trees whipping and leaves and branches blowing seem right somehow--when it is heavy and oppressive and nothing is moving--not a leaf trembling--it gives me the weebies. Last night was one of the still nights. So, I did what any normal person would do--went to Cracker Barrel for chicken and dumplins. It was really neat to be one of the only cars on the road.
I never watch TV--not even the weather channel. Just don't have time, and don't think about it when I do. My mother, however, is a total weather channel junkie. She used to call me and say things like "Is it raining there?", then argue with me when I said that it wasn't--"it is too--you are all lit up green on the doppler radar". I didn't hear from her last night, so I figured it must be just a passing thing here.
Boy was I wrong. I was shocked today by the destruction in Alabama. She is fine; her town was not affected, but so many others were. I can't even imagine the horror of those parents who didn't even know where their kids were. Were they buried in thr rubble that used to be their school? Were they life flighted out to who knows where? How would they even begin to figure it out?
I think the sirens may terrify me again.
7 comments:
Sounds very scary! I'm glad your mom is safe and sound.
Maybe I saw The Wizard of Oz when I was a little bit too young, but whatever the reason, I have always been terrified of tornados. Luckily, they are a rarity in my area.
I have only heard the emergency broadcast system used once. It was when i was in Colorado for a tornado warning. That is as close as i ever care to get to one.
It's so easy to take those warnings so lightly, then something awful happens and we all worry about what we would do. I'll take the next crisis drill much more seriously.
Tornados? I don't think I could live in a place that has them. Here the sirens used to blast every Saturday at noon for testing and I was terrified of them every week because they speak of disaster and war. But then I'd be grateful for a little warning ahead...
The devastation was amazing. Glad your mom was safe!
I live a few doors away from the volunteer fire station and they blast the siren at all hours. It doesn't seem to bother anyone else in the neighborhood.... Weirdos.
I remember trying to sleep during hurricane season in Charleston -- We lived right on the Cooper, with the copperheads and alligators. There was a terrible storm one night and I knew the river was rising. I kept waking up and peering out into the blackness, looking to see, with every lightning flash, how high the water had gotten. I was terrified that I'd wake to hear it sloshing outside the window, or inside my room.
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