Riding out the Storm

[Ann Kendig]

Last night was one loooong night.   I checked the weather and saw there were thunderstorms heading our way...again.  Ugh, I hate storms!!!  I admit it, I'm a big baby when it comes to storms, always have been.  I thought this year I would be safer from the big, bad storms.  We have no basement where we live and I have been pushing DH to move so we could have a little bigger house, a nice sized yard for the doods AND you guessed it, a basement!!   We had some land in the country and decided not to build on it, so we sold it.  That process started last November.  Then we put our house up for sale, got a contract on it pretty quickly and then the sale fell through.  *sigh*  

I was really hoping to be moved, or close to it, before tornado season.  Last year, in October, an F2 tornado hit Cridersville, a town a little over 8 miles down the road from us.  No one was hurt badly.  This year at the end of April a F2 tornado hit Celina, the town I lived in before I moved here.  It destroyed the Aldi's I used to shop in.  : (   Again, no serious injuries, thank goodness!!  I go through Celina often on the way to visit my mother so I was able to drive around and see the damage done.  I AM READY TO MOVE NOW!!

 

Whenever these bad storms hit my DH is very seldom at home and I have to ride it out alone with Sheba and Duke.  This time we had an additional passanger to ride out the storm with us, our new foster dog, Molly.  DH works days usually but he had a meeting to go to so he adjusted his hours so he would work through the evening.  Yep, we were alone again.  

 

About 7 pm things started to get a little scary.  I grabbed the leashes and hooked them to the dogs collars.  Sheba and Duke laid around and snoozed but Molly followed me everywhere.  She didn't care for the thunder much.  A tornado warning was issued and the sirens were blaring.   (I thought the warning was only till 7:30 but I was wrong, it was until 8pm a whole hour!)   In April, when the tornado hit Celina, there were tornado warnings here but it didn't look as bad outside so I didn't worry as much.  About 7:30 it started getting dark very quickly!  I started pulling all kinds of junk out of the closet and throwing it in the hallway.  I looked out the window that faced west and all at once I was slammed with some very strong winds!  (I can see why they tell you to stay away from windows during bad weather..duh.)  I shut the window, grabbed the dogs and off to the closet we went.  Sheba and Duke entered quickly and laid down, no problem.  Molly did not want to go in the closet.  There wasn't much room to maneuver so I had to push this 90 lb. dood into the closet.  All the while my DH and I are sending texts back and forth.   This photo was taken with my cell phone just before I climbed in...

So, here I  am in a teeny, tiny, hot closet with 3 panting doods. I am holding a sleeping bag over our heads but trying not to make an already very uncomfortable situation more unbearable by smothering us in the hot closet. I could hear rain and possibly some hail hitting the metal furnace vent thing that exits through the roof.  The wind was blowing pretty hard.  I am also hearing from the TV (that I have cranked up), "If you wait to take cover it may be to late" and that the storm was really bad between certain mile markers off I 75.  I feet a bit better as it is about 5 mile markers away from us. Meanwhile, I got a text from DH telling me he loved me.  : ) 

About 8 pm we climbed out of the closet, except for Molly who couldn't understand why I was making her do all these crazy things.  After some prompting she came out and we all went into the kitchen so the dogs could get a nice long drink of water.  I texted my hubby that we were OK and the storm was to hit his area around 8:38.  He texted back that they were getting some rain and some strong winds.  The worst part of the storm was more south of where he was.  

Thankfully, we were fine and the storm passed over without any damage or injuries.   Whew!   Something like this really gets me thinking about how prepared I am for bad weather.  I'm going to make up a survival kit and I'm taking it to the house I hope to move into soon....WITH A BASEMENT!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Suzann, Rosey & Bandit]

Ann - So glad you all are safe!! I hope your house get sold so you can have a cozy basement to settle in bad weather!

[Tina, Clover, Plus 5 More]

Ann, I know how you feel about not liking storms.  We do have a basement in this house, but the old farm house only had a crawl space.  I use to go into the closet under the stairs. 

Yesterday the sirens went off twice, funnels would start to form and go back up.  Right before the first siren I could see the wall cloud and started preparing our spot in the basement under the stairs.  I keep a tub with bottled water, a bowl, flashlight, emergency radio, old style phone that plugs in, first aid kit, colors/book, blanket, floor cushion mat and large kennel with a divider.  Not sure if the kennels are good idea or not, but I'm afraid one of the dogs might get scared and run.  Hope you get your basement soon:)

[Deanna & Desi & Cori]

I think one of the worst parts about tornadoes and hurricanes is the anxious anticipation - you KNOW it's coming and there's nothing to do but wait.  Here in California, we have our earthquakes and they can certainly be scary (and dangerous), but at least they hit suddenly, so there's no fright-fill waiting period.

 

Glad your storm came and went without damage!

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

Ann that sounds awful. I hate these storms too we have very few here right by the lake but my sister lives in the path of it all each and everytime I worry about them in the country. So I'm glad to hear it has passed!

[Carol and Banjo]

I'm glad you're ok.   Our hearts go out to those devastated by these awful storms.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I'm glad all went OK. We get arre tornado warning but we do get some bad storms.I hate my basement and I wouldn't ever want to spend too much time there. Sometimes I think a house without a basement sounds great:-)

[Nina, Phil, Harlow & Lacey]

We do have a basement, but it is a daylight one so it has lots of windows on the back side of the house.  It is also unfinished so no place to hide there.  When the siriens have gone off here the dogs and I head for a first floor powder room.  We have spent a lot of time in there this spring.  Maybe it is time to think about a "safe room" in the basement.

[cheryl & oliver]

I hate storms, here in Florida, they come up very quickly.  One minute it is sunny awnd beautiful, the next all h-ll is breaking loose.  I am terrified of tornado's too, but when the hurricanes come, and it is nighttime, and u can't see what is going on, that is when I listen for the sound of 'a train". During last hurricane there was a tornado that touched down about a block away from us, thank goodness, no injuries, just damge to property, but very scarey, so I know what u are saying.  I have a bathroom with no windows that is on an inside wall, we would go there, we also lose electric very easily, so a radio with good batteries is essential here.  One more week and we are officially into hurricane season, so I am getting supplies ready...I hate this, but it is part of our living...Glad you and yours are ok, safe and sound....

[Doris]

I hope you get your basement soon, Ann!  It was an awful storm last night!  We had just arrived at Lima Senior High when the sirens went off.  So . . . instead of a nice awards ceremony we all waited in two narrow hallways.  We left when I saw a break before the worst part of the storm, but we didn't go to the basement when we got home.  We have a bad habit of watching the storm.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Why is it that our DH's are never around during a crisis???  I don't know, but it sure seems to work out that way.  I'm so glad that you and the Doodles were all fine.  I've never lived in a tornado area, but I do remember being in a hotel in Kansas City (Bus trip) when the alarms went off in the middle of the night.  I found it annoying, and turned over to go back to sleep.  It wasn't until there was somebody pounding on my door telling me we had to go to the shelter area that I really understood the extent of the danger.  It was frightening.  I would definitely be looking for a house with a basement, and I'm such a chicken I'd probably spend lots of time there throughout tornado season.