On the outside looking in

[ehowton]

Ever since moving back from Saint Louis, I scoff at the weather. There, as with most of the midwest, they are littered with tornadoes, sometimes several a day during their 'tornado season.' Yesterday, however, was a little different. I was standing outside in the sun talking to the Schwan's man, when the sky darkened, and the wind stopped blowing. Mothers were running outside looking for their children. I went inside and turned on the television and stared in disbelief at a map of Anna, Texas with a bring pink "C" surrounding our fair city.

My phone rang. It was my father: "ARE YOU IN SHELTER?" He asks. I look outside again. Fierce rain is pelting the house and our fence sways unnaturally. Its was as dark as night. I blink at the television. Tornado.

Now, I've lived in Texas most of my life, and sure we have a 'corridor' for them to travel down, and we've made preparations before to sit them out in shelter. We watched this tornado (two-minute video) real-time from Irving as it tore through downtown Fort Worth heading straight for us.

But yesterday was the first time I've ever sat in a bathtub to wait out a storm.

I suppose it's because I have kids now.

Fortunately, the children's bathroom is spacious and well equipped. So the three of us sat in the tub while listening to the screech of the mixture of wind, rain and debris pelt the house. Ten minutes later, it was sunny and quiet again, and the children wen back outside to play.

It never touched down.

Comments

[quicksilvermad.livejournal.com]

I remember tornadoes. We used to get them almost every "summer" in Wyoming. Funny how base housing doesn't have freaking BASEMENTS. We had to clear out the hall closet and hole ourselves up in there several times.

We had 15 touch down on the highway once.

And I saw a funnel cloud form right above my head when I was in fourth grade—we sat in the church basement for about three hours with the AM radio playing a blow-by-blow of where it was headed.

In each situation, my dad was hanging out in the backyard and pointing at the forming funnels with the other neighborhood dads.

We had an earthquake here in Virginia the other day. I so did not notice it. I was born in Vandenberg, CA. "Duck and cover" was one of the first phrases I learned as a child. It's kind of funny watching people who aren't used to crazy shit like this. They act like they've never even heard of the term "earthquake" before.

Goddammit, we're on a FAULT LINE you idiots...

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

Water table. That's why we don't have basements in Texas. The water table is too high. Saint Louis was my first house with a basement. It was...odd. Saint Louis also has earthquakes, apparently. I'm glad I missed that!

[quicksilvermad.livejournal.com]

I get the water table thing, totally. That's why there are no freaking storm drains in Florida.

They did have houses with basements in Cheyenne, but we got gypped when we moved on base with the houses they built in fifty seconds that you could hear everything in (especially the neighbor in the duplex yelling at her kids).

We have basements aplenty here in Virginia.

And earthquakes aren't that bad. You get used to them.

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

photogoot and I lived together in Hampton for awhile (we were both stationed at Langely) then I went to Korea and he moved around a little bit ending up on Buckroe Beach if I recall correctly.

Beautiful country, Virginia.

[galinda822.livejournal.com]

Only 3 in the last 2 weeks.

Of course, our last one was 22 yrs. ago. Guess it's catch up time.