A couple days ago our area saw somewhere between 6 to 12 tornadoes (the exact number pending investigative reports). And while the tornado headed our way, Suhaana was made to wade it our in her car seat below the dining table. Suhaana was quite puzzled initially at why she was strapped into the car seat, but not loaded into the big bouncer (car) and going anywhere. She had that "Are we going yet" look for a precious few seconds, quickly giving away to "Get me outta here"! But here's what unravelled:
The morning started like any other. Quite pleasant spring day. I checked the weather online and it only said thunderstorm warning. I thought.. no big deal. Thunderstorms come and go, and if indoors, rarely mean much.
Then, in about two hours, in the middle of the afternoon (about 1pm) it was getting very dark. I stood outside with Suhaana for a bit. It was dark and very still. Not a leaf was moving. I mused, this looks like the still before the storm, laughed about it and headed indoors.
In less than an hour, I was deep into the laptop, when I got a phonecall. It was a friend saying that a tornado is heading directly towards us, in 10 minutes. Take shelter!! As soon as I kept the phone, the sirens went off. Tornado sirens. Alarm gave way to fear. Switched on the TV, and they were showing sattelite images of tornadoes heading directly our way. Rain had started and with it, hail too. I rackled my brain for the safest place to be at home. The bedrooms and closets are upstairs. And the downstairs is pretty open and airy. Finally decided after consultation with Raj, downstairs below the dining table it is. I put the little girl in her car seat, strapped her nice and snug. Got to the middle of the house below the dining table. Raj called up, and another friend. They were at work, and all of them had been told to head to shelter areas immediately.
Luckily our community did not get effected directly. But nearby cities and counties - merely 20-30 minutes drive got hit very bad with lots of homes damaged.
By the evening, all this had passed, and we were seeing images and videos on the TV and internet.. of trucks and 18 wheelers flying in the air like paper planes... pretty crazy!
The morning started like any other. Quite pleasant spring day. I checked the weather online and it only said thunderstorm warning. I thought.. no big deal. Thunderstorms come and go, and if indoors, rarely mean much.
Then, in about two hours, in the middle of the afternoon (about 1pm) it was getting very dark. I stood outside with Suhaana for a bit. It was dark and very still. Not a leaf was moving. I mused, this looks like the still before the storm, laughed about it and headed indoors.
In less than an hour, I was deep into the laptop, when I got a phonecall. It was a friend saying that a tornado is heading directly towards us, in 10 minutes. Take shelter!! As soon as I kept the phone, the sirens went off. Tornado sirens. Alarm gave way to fear. Switched on the TV, and they were showing sattelite images of tornadoes heading directly our way. Rain had started and with it, hail too. I rackled my brain for the safest place to be at home. The bedrooms and closets are upstairs. And the downstairs is pretty open and airy. Finally decided after consultation with Raj, downstairs below the dining table it is. I put the little girl in her car seat, strapped her nice and snug. Got to the middle of the house below the dining table. Raj called up, and another friend. They were at work, and all of them had been told to head to shelter areas immediately.
Luckily our community did not get effected directly. But nearby cities and counties - merely 20-30 minutes drive got hit very bad with lots of homes damaged.
By the evening, all this had passed, and we were seeing images and videos on the TV and internet.. of trucks and 18 wheelers flying in the air like paper planes... pretty crazy!
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