Weathering the Storm

Wednesday night Hubs and I packed Baby Bean in the car and headed to Blo.ckbuster to take back our mail movie and exchange it for a romantic comedy. Before leaving the house it looked like it might rain while we were out, so I asked Hubs if I should bring in the dogs. We decided they would be fine and went on our merry way. After we made the exchange, we were trying to decide where to go to dinner. We decided on a sit-down restaurant just up the street, but as we were waiting for the light to change, I started to feel really icky and decided I didn't want a big meal at the last minute. After a quick conversation before the turn-in we decided to go hit the Ar.bys by our house and take it home to watch our flick.

A block from our house I started to hear a noise outside the car. "It can't be. Is it?" I thought to myself, and then rolled down the window. Yep. Tornado sirens.

Okay, I'm not from Texas. I'm from up north where I lived the entire first 29 years of my life safely nestled in the Rocky Mountains. We didn't have tornadoes. We had snow storms. I can handle snow storms because I grew up in them. Tornadoes scare the sh** out of me. Snow storms can't level an entire city in a few second's time.

"Aren't tornadoes usually preceded by high winds?" I innocently asked Hubs, as my heart did a little skip. He informed me the winds could be a few miles out yet, but that they were probably on their way. He didn't seem panicked or scared at all, so I relaxed a bit, thinking the sirens were more of a suggestion. Idiot! Ever heard of the calm before the storm?

We pulled into the drive up at Ar.bys and before it was our turn at the box, their power went out. The winds still had not arrived, but I was starting to get the feeling we needed to get home, and fast. I told Hubs I just wanted to go home. "Are you sure? Cause we can wait, or we can go across the street and get something else. They all have power." Nope. I wanted to go home. My instincts were kicking in and I wanted to get my baby the hell out of that car.

As we were leaving the parking lot the winds hit, followed a few seconds later by the signature tornado rain. Trees were swinging heavily, traffic signs were turning ominous. A few seconds later, I was in a full on panic attack. I couldn't breathe. I was trying so hard not to cry because I knew if I started, it would be the kind of panicked crying where you can't breathe at all. We raced home, dodging bits of trees that had already broken loose and traffic signs that had fallen over.

Once home, we raced inside where our power had already been knocked out. I ran to the back door and called my dogs. Nothing. I called again. No sign of them. My panic increased exponentially. I called again, and my voice cracked with fear and emotion. Finally Sades heard me and came running, with Mags fast on her tail. My shouting woke Baby Bean, so I ran to her, got her out of her car seat, and held her tight. For the next hour the storm continued. Battering, wailing, and beating outside our house. It felt like it would never stop. All I could think was did I have the ability to make a big enough ball around Baby Bean to keep her safe if our house blew away.

Finally the storm let up, and the sun peaked through just in time for the sunset. Relieved, I thought we had made it and that it was all over. Wrong! Around 5:00 a.m. the storms started up again. Mags and I huddled together on the bed while it sounded like the house would be ripped from its foundations. I waited, listening to see if it would wake Baby Bean, but it didn't. Then the storm let up. I told Mags it was over and we could go back to sleep. Wrong! This happened three times before the morning. I barely slept. The storms continued on through the early afternoon.

My commute into work was long, as the road I usually take in was closed due to tree and power line damage. When I got to work, I found that a tornado had actually touched down in my city and only a few miles from my house.

Luckily we made it through the storm unscathed. Our house and trees are all fine. I love it here, but I do not love the storms!