and goes out like a lamb.
-Weather proverb
Not this year. Last night there was severe weather across Northern Texas, Western Oklahoma, Eastern Colorado, Western Nebraska, and, my part of the world, Western Kansas. There were high winds, heavy rains, thunder, lightening , hail, and tornadoes.
We knew we were in the middle of a big storm when the television program we were watching was interrupted by a special weather report. Wind from the south was rattling the windows of the house. Hugh dark clouds were building up in the same direction. The sky was a dark gray color. The branches were swaying and dancing on the two gigantic Hackberry trees growing in my next door neighbor's yard. Light rain was falling. Then the word we dread hearing- tornado.
No, two tornadoes. Both 15 miles south of town and just crossing the county line. One is heading toward a town about 15 miles to the east of us ("Smallville") and the other heading for us. The weatherman told us that anyone in Smallville should head for shelter right now since that tornado was about a half-a-mile wide and moving quickly.
We stay in front of the TV and watch radar images of the storm as it and the tornadoes move northward across the county. The radar was a kaleidoscope of color: Green showing rain, orange showing heavier rain with lightening and thunder, red showing severe weather, pink/purple showing extreme weather. There is a small circle of pink/purple near a hook-shape signifying a possible tornado inching closer to our town. Another hook was moving toward Smallville. Our hook could miss us but the other one looked as if it would go right through the center of Smallville. The fact that this tornado was half-a-mile wide made it very likely that it would.
Ten minutes later the weatherman is again strongly suggesting that people in Smallville seek shelter NOW! Our tornado is closer to us and the weatherman suggest that people near our town seek shelter. We can see out our font door and decide not to head to the basement because, although it is windy and raining, it doesn't look that bad. We want to keep track of this storm and do not want to miss any of the information they are broadcasting about it. At the same time I am thinking about just were in the basement we will hide if the tornado gets any closer. The thought of leaving the house does not cross my mind since there is nowhere else to go.
Another ten minutes and the radar shows the tornado south of Smallville now, almost on top of it. Our tornado looks like it is going to cross the highway a few miles to the east of us. Outside the wind has picked up and the rain intensified. Then I hear the plink, plink sound of hail bouncing off the roof of the house. I get up to look out the front door and as I touch the handle of the storm door I am plunged into darkness as all the lights in the house and town go out. Then I hear the sound of someone whacking tennis balls against the side of the house as larger hailstones start falling out of the sky. My husband goes and gets two flashlights and brings one of them to me. We and Duke, who is fascinated by what is going on outside, stand in the doorway and watch and listen to the storm. We no longer know were the tornado is or if it is still heading east of town but we still do not head to the basement.
Another couple of minutes and the hail has moved off. My husband goes outside and brings back a golf ball size hailstone. There is so much hail on the ground it looks like a quick snowstorm moved though. Our neighbors come out of their houses and we go outside to talk to them. Our neighbor across the street works at a restaurant in Smallville and her husband tells us he talked to her on her cell phone before the electricity went out and that she said they were just heading to the basement. He is worried about her but cannot call because his phone, like most phone now a days, does not work if the electricity is off. My husband keeps an old telephone and we have hooked it up so I ask if he wants to use our phone. He tries calling but get either a busy signal, no answer, or a "all lines are down" message. We find out later that the cell tower is down and that the phone lines between out town and Smallville are also down. All we can do is wait until our neighbor comes home from work.
This morning the electricity was back on. When I looked out the front window I saw my neighbor's car parked outside her house. Later I found out that "our" tornado ran out of steam and that the other tornado tracked just east of Smallville. Some farm houses were destroyed but no humans were injured. Some people lost their cattle when the animals were picked up by the winds and/or tossed into trees. Poor animals. My husband is just leaving the house to go help one farmer he knows who's house was hit by the tornado. The house is still standing but the roof was torn off. He is going to help move the furniture and other things out of the house before the rains that are expected later today start.
The News reports say there were five dozen tornadoes spotted by the time these storms were over. Two people were reported killed in Oklahoma and another two in a tornado, reported to be 600 feet wide, that went through the town of Holly, Colorado. One of the people killed in Holly was sucked out of her trailer home and thrown into a tree. When I first heard this report I thought, "Why didn't she go to somewhere safe?"
Later I heard that the time between the tornado warning siren going off and the tornado hitting Holly was about nine minutes. Tornadoes are hard to see in the dark and maybe she did not even hear the siren. Nine minutes- by the time you realize that a tornado is actually heading your way it is to late. Thinking about this poor women did get me thinking about my husband and myself. We were just as vulnerable as she was once the electricity went off. We should have gone to the basement as soon as that happen since tornadoes can change direction in a heartbeat. In fact, we should have been down their the second the television program we were watching was interrupted. We have another TV down there. I don't know what we were thinking.
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