Living in Oklahoma all my life, tornados have always been a normal inconvenience to me. I have slept through a good number of tornado sirens and been guilty of ignoring the warnings to take shelter.
For those that don't live in a place where tornados are the norm, they must seem terrifying. And honestly- they are. But only in recent years have they seemed so destructive and dangerous. In the past, they seemed to touch down in very rural counties where no one had ever lived. A crappy old barn might be damaged, but nothing too exciting. It was mostly irritating because all TV shows would be interrupted with our overexcited weathermen chasing the tornado around.
What is awe-inspiring is how a tornado can just level an entire neighborhood in one swipe or even destroy one house while leaving the next one untouched. We have had this happen to people living within a few miles several times in recent years now and it never stops surprising me.
May is an infamous month for the natural disasters to strike here. We always have our most devastating tornados in May. And now that I have kiddos to protect, they are just a bit more scary. We don't currently have a storm shelter but we will build one in our next home.
Today one of our friends lost her home and it just made it all too real how serious it can truly be. Although you wouldn't ever guess from the rednecks they choose to interview on the news who recorded the whole thing from their front porch while drinking beer. ;). Our home is fine and we are all safe for today. I guess tomorrow is another "high risk" weather day...
For those that don't live in a place where tornados are the norm, they must seem terrifying. And honestly- they are. But only in recent years have they seemed so destructive and dangerous. In the past, they seemed to touch down in very rural counties where no one had ever lived. A crappy old barn might be damaged, but nothing too exciting. It was mostly irritating because all TV shows would be interrupted with our overexcited weathermen chasing the tornado around.
What is awe-inspiring is how a tornado can just level an entire neighborhood in one swipe or even destroy one house while leaving the next one untouched. We have had this happen to people living within a few miles several times in recent years now and it never stops surprising me.
May is an infamous month for the natural disasters to strike here. We always have our most devastating tornados in May. And now that I have kiddos to protect, they are just a bit more scary. We don't currently have a storm shelter but we will build one in our next home.
Today one of our friends lost her home and it just made it all too real how serious it can truly be. Although you wouldn't ever guess from the rednecks they choose to interview on the news who recorded the whole thing from their front porch while drinking beer. ;). Our home is fine and we are all safe for today. I guess tomorrow is another "high risk" weather day...
I was born here in OK, then lived in VA most of my life, so I wasn't used to tornados when I moved back in 07. But having one less than a mile from our first apartment, then having one hit less than a mile from my grandparent's house, and then having one less than a mile from my in-law's house, I've gotten used to them but at the same time still completely in awe of them. I consider myself and my family to be extremely lucky to not have had any damage from any of them in the past 5 years, and I sure hope that our luck will continue in the same fashion.
ReplyDeleteOn a side note (kind of LOL), it helps to abate the visible fear when you have a child old enough to watch your reaction. My daughter was TERRIFIED of storms, and it really made me take a giant step back from my fear, because if she saw me terrified as well it would've made it a lot worse. But seeing how nonchalant her father and I act about the sirens going off has made it so that she's fine as well.
Are you guys ok???? Just seeing the damage from today (Monday afternoon)! :(
ReplyDeleteHoping you're far, far, far away from all the devastation today.
ReplyDeleteI repeat...are you guys okay?? haha So yeah maybe I am really worried about you guys! I can't remember what town you are in!!! Praying all is well and like Lisa said..that you are farrr far away from it all?
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