May 10, 2010

Today was an adventure. There have been over 20 tornadoes in the state and the storm rages on to the east. I was donating plasma at the center downtown when I got a text saying Tornado watch from the weather service. Watch means conditions are right for the storm, warning means one has been spotted and when there is a warning the sirens sound. It was really cool weather yesterday, but today it was hot and humid. When I got home I told Kevin about the watch and we started to watch the news. It wasn't long before the storms were pointed out and were seen to be getting bigger and stronger. We are still in Studio 6 waiting for deployment and the closest storm shelter is down the road at another hotel. We waited and watched the sky for a while and soon it got darker and darker and started to rain. I got a text to my phone saying Tornado warning and then we heard the sirens sound. That sound immediately makes my heart skip a beat. It's more than foreboding. We went outside and saw others, some just standing in there doorways watching the sky and others scrambling for their cars. We went to the laundry room which is on the lower level since our room is not. The laundry room is just a hallway with glass windows and doors at each end, not exactly safe but best at the time since we didn't know where the shelter was yet. The manager came by and suggested the shelter to us and we rode with two women and a cat to get there. It was raining hard at this point and the air was really thick and muggy. We stopped at the wrong hotel first then jogged to the other, across a big parking lot. When we got there the police officer at the door refused to let us enter since we had Yuki with us.There was absolutely no way I was abandoning my dog, and we didn't have time, to go back and drop him off. I was not leaving him alone, and God bless Kevin for having patience with me. We saw others with cats and dogs being turned away too. I hope it was none of those that were turned away that died. I asked if he had any other suggestions, and he made a few calls but had nothing else to offer. I have to admit, I was probably rude but it seemed insane to me to deny someone entry to saftey in an emergency. We rode back to the hotel and went back to the laundry room. By this time the sirens had gone off and come on again about four times. When we got back to the laundry room Kevin and I huddled in a nook and covered ourselves with a blanket in case the windows broke. Then the hail started, in some places bigger than baseballs and that's the weatherman's words not mine. About ten minutes after we'd been in there the lady we'd ridden with, the one with the cat, came in and told us to get to service laundry room that they'd just unlocked. It had no windows. We waited in there for awhile and some of the people waiting watched the storm. We were lucky to be passed over, and no tornadoes hit the road that we were on. However there were many close, there have been over twenty and still counting. Five deaths have been reported. Tomorrow we'll call the base and see if there are any groups organized to go aid in clean up. The tornadoes have been reported to have been up to F3,F4. Please pray for those that have been hit or for those that are worried about loved ones.