A tornado, flash-flood and severe thunderstorm warning were ALL issued for Tangipahoa Parish (our county) at the same time this afternoon.
A tornado/tornadic storm (several rotations at one point) moved so slowly east from Baton Rouge to our area that we had 30 minutes advanced warning of the storm and the tornado warning lasted about 1 1/2 hours. We live in the country, so I went and knocked on my neighbors' doors to alert them. I kept monitoring the weather and as the storm got closer, the more serious the warning.
SO......To the bathtub the kids went. Not having a basement during a tornado is scary! The kids piled in with all their blankets and pillows and stayed in the tub while I watched the non-stop TV coverage and radar of the storm in the next room. I was prepared and expected I would have to take cover. The storm, which caused MAJOR damage just a hair north of us, missed us.
I talked to Mom on the phone during the Tornado warning. She asked me, "If you're in a tornado warning, why are you standing at the window talking to me and everybody sitting at the table eating!?" I told her we were watching the radar closely via TV. She said, "If you hear that noise or your ears start to pop, get moving!"
She's reading one of the books published about the 2006 Greensburg, KS, tornado. Mom grew up in the tiny town of Mullinville, KS, only 10 miles from Greensburg. The 2-mile wide F5 Tornado literally flattened the town. She said, speaking of bathtubs, she had just read a chapter about a woman who survived the Greensburg tornado in her bathtub. The woman got in the tub with her quilt and pillow to ride out the tornado. She knew she was moving during the storm, and when the tornado passed and it got quiet again, she thought she was on her back patio. Turns out she was a block away. The tornado had "scooted" her right down the street in her tub!
Well, hopefully our tub never flies or scoots as a result of a tornado!
No comments:
Post a Comment