Tornadic tales...

So, we had some weather surprises today. I was at a seminar at the end of the workday when someone came in to say that we were in a tornado warning and needed to go to the basement. I had to laugh because the basement level is actually nothing but glass walls and thus offers no protection from the elements. Fortunately the building we were in has a sub-basement and groups of people headed to the hallway on that level to wait out the warning. Except me, of course. I studied the sky, hemmed a bit, hawwwed a bit and finally decided to call my van driver to let her know that I may not make it to the van pick-up location on time since it was possible that I might be held hostage in the sub-basement. She just laughed. I did end up going to the sub-level but only for a few minutes and mostly out of boredom from waiting for the rain to ease up a bit.

Anyhow, the rain did finally ease up a bit and I headed to the van pick-up location without getting too soaked for my efforts. We hadn't even driven a block before we were getting the news...tornado spotted south of us, directly along the route we would be driving but moving southeast so we figured it would be gone by the time we got to that location. That was mostly correct. That particular tornado was gone but we were to be surprised by another as we approached the turn-off eight miles from our small town. As we pulled over into the "Stop & Park" to drop off a rider, we were silent as we considered what had been broadcasted on the radio. A tornado 10 miles north of us and headed to our location, but rather slowly. Knowing that no matter what we did, we'd be in the path, I leaned forward and spoke to the van driver. "Deb, I just want you to know that if you want to speed back to town, I have no objection to how fast we go." The other riders quickly echoed that sentiment and one even promised to help pay a speeding ticket should we be that unlucky. With that support, off we flew towards relative safety. We would have made it in plenty of time except for one thing - downdrafts and hail.

We were two miles to the last turn-off that led to town and were being battered by strong winds, strong enough to push a 16-passenger Ford van across the center line and strong enough to fling small chunks of hail with enough force that it briefly crossed my mind that the windows could very likely shatter under that impact. At that point Deb had a white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel and was fervently praying to a higher power. My focus on the weather took a backseat as I did my best to calm our driver. We couldn't stop at that point. The tornado was coming and we had to MOVE our tushes out of there. Another mile closer to the turn, we could barely see even two feet in front of the van because of the rain, but we managed to creep closer and I could vaguely see the outlines of the farm that sits opposite the turn. I assured Deb that as soon was we turn, the wind would be behind us and the driving conditions would improve. I knew that, at the very least, the battering of the winds would ease up with less surface area to strike. We continued our way into town, at times barely able to see road signs. Finally, we opted to turn towards downtown earlier than we usually do. Fortunately for us this road is fairley wide and we discovered we had many tree limbs to navigate around in between strong gusts of battering winds and sheets of hard, pounding rain obscuring our view. I felt like Helen Hunter from the movie Twister as she calls out "Left! Right! Left!" instructions to the driver. Once we had some cover and wind blockage by the houses and buildings, it was easier to see where to go, although by this point several roads were too flooded to navigate and we had to go around a few blocks to find an easier way to the parking lot.

Throughout this entire time, we had the monotonous howling of the town sirens to accompany us on our journey. The sirens continued once we had parked and turned off the engine. We sat in the van, sighing in relief as our ordeal of driving was over, but yet we couldn't leave the van because the tornado had arrived and it was too dangerous to open the van doors. We had made it into town mere minutes before the tornado was to pass by the east side of town. I believe it. After about five minutes the rain and winds slowed to merely "hard" and we were able to make a run for our personal vehicles. I immediately heading home but ended up having to circle a block to find an alternate route due to the street floods. When I realized that a vehicle coming towards me had water nearly to the tops of the tires, I said "no way" and went down another street. Shortly afterwards I came within sight of my house only to find an island in the center of a vast amount of flood water. Oh joy. I just knew my basement had likely flooded.

So, exhibits below. The flooding in front of my home in which you can't even see the curb . The water was over the curb and had carried all sorts of debris into my backyard and neighbors yards. I was grateful to find only two smaller tree branches on the ground. My two brawny evergreen sentinels remained standing and I hope they continue to do so in every storm as they are taller than my house is long!! I don't want to consider the result should they ever topple.