No doubt, everyone who lives in Kansas will in their lifetime experience a tornado. In almost 30 years of residency in this state, I don't recall ever having been frightened by the weather. That all changed on Wednesday night.
My children and I were in the living room watching "Jon & Kate plus 8" when the show was blacked out and the high pitched scream of the Emergency Alert System came on saying to immediately seek shelter. I had been oblivious to the weather that evening until that moment, when I looked out and the wind that blew earlier was dead calm and the sky was green. "Ok, let's head downstairs" I said, and the sirens outside started blaring.
Immediate chaos. The children started screaming and crying - they sensed panic in my voice even though I was trying to appear calm. My husband met us at the stairs and we got settled on the downstairs furniture. Within a few minutes, the phone was ringing. "Are you downstairs" was the voice in the other end - from my mom, his mom, his brother, my sister...
Here are 10 things that happened next:
- SNAP - the neighbors tree outside fell
- The electricity went out
- We realized we hadn't yet unpacked our flashlights, lanterns or weather radio
- My husband found a lighter and the box labeled "Flashlights, etc."
- Smack, Smack, Smack - baseball sized hail
- Snores from my children (thank heaven)
- Cell phone ringing - landlines are down - "Round 2 is coming. Stay downstairs."
- Still, calm, silence - that's never good.
- Round 2, then round 3.
- My husband's cell phone alarm at 4am - we made it through the night.
Shortly thereafter the electricity came back on. My husband left for work, and I went outside to assess the damage. Some tree limbs and debris, but nothing serious. My inlaws' cars and brother in laws' car sustained hail damage, but ours were safely in the garage. We haven't yet climbed onto the roof to assess the damage there.
But not everyone was so lucky. Several homes were severely damaged and/or destroyed. Businesses were destroyed. A small town not far from us was partially leveled and some people were killed. The Kansas State University campus sustained severe damage and a boy scout camp in Iowa from the same batch of storms was recovering from the loss of 4 campers.
Living anywhere has its risks, and if we're going to weather those risks, I'm glad we're here to do it with family and loved ones nearby. Benefits usually outweigh risks. A friend asked me the next morning, "Are you rethinking this move? Seems like as soon as you move, a tornado hits." We're used to drama - no rethinking necessary - because there's no place like home.
