Thunderstorms and Tornados
Mar 3rd, 2008 by Bethany
The local weather report says we’re going to have severe thunderstorms today. I used to get really excited about an announcement like that, but ever since we had the tornados nearby last month I’ve been nervous about thunderstorms. I don’t mind the lightning or thunder or rain–it’s the possibility of a tornado that concerns me. Those big storms a month ago produced tornados about an hour away, but I remember Degen crying that he was scared and I remember hearing the extremely loud thunder and wind and thinking nothing of it. At some point it occurred to me that I wouldn’t have known if a tornado was coming and I wouldn’t have known what to do if I had known, and the idea of a window breaking out and cutting up my sleeping babies freaks me out a bit.
Preparation helps manage fear, so when I heard that we’re supposed to have thunderstorms this morning I decided to do some preparation. I’ve got the dishes going, the laundry going, and I’ve filled all the water bottles in the house. There’s a flood advisory in some nearby cities and they’re not allowed to drink their tap water, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to be prepared for something like that. I got all of us dressed to the shoes just in case…not that I know how that would help in a storm, but I guess if we had to leave quickly for some reason it’s a good thing. I took Degen outside for a walk around the apartment before the rain started while Maggie napped…it might be his last fresh air for a little while since it’ll be raining for a couple of days. I have plenty of groceries and my flashlight and we have gas in the car (although the car is with Colin and we have no garage if there’s a hail problem…). I’ve made sure that the computers are unplugged or plugged into good surge protectors.
It looks like the worst of the weather is going to pass north and south of us, and I feel much better now that I’ve done what I think I can to prepare. If you want to know more about tornados and how to prepare for one, here are a couple of good links:
http://minneapolis.about.com/cs/weather/a/tornadoawarenes.htm
http://tornadoproject.com/safety/safety.htm#top
I LOVE THESE PICTURES! thank you…
Oops, I responded to the wrong story…. oh, well, the fact still remains that the snow pictures were great. I can’t believe how big Miss Maggie is! And I love your bday blog, too…
Thanks Kim! I’m so glad you liked the pictures of our snow day and my bday blog. Still working on getting bday pictures up…