A close one

May 25, 2011

Yesterday several dangerous tornados touched down in central Oklahoma. I learned new terms like debris ball, elephant trunk and maxi tornado. A few years ago the trendy term was “tornado vortex signature,” but maybe they only use that when a funnel isn’t performing as it should. (The weather reporters are GREAT at warning us about tornados. At the same time, you know they’re having the time of their lives chasing those storms. They get really excited.)

At one point a maxi tornado was heading our way, but according to Steve it lifted and then touched down on the other side of town. Hmmm.

At least 13 people have died and many have lost their homes, so I don’t mean to make light of the situation at all. But I did want you to know that we’re okay. The worst thing that happened was my acid reflux flaring up big time as soon as the sirens went off.

Cedric and I spent some time in the coat closet. He was remarkably calm as he sat by my side, but his expression did verge into “freaked out” territory when the wind began to roar and the hail crashed against our windows. Of course I had my iPhone in the closet, so I documented the moment:

Lesson learned from this experience — an interior closet is not going to protect us from a tornado that flattens houses. It may be time to invest in a garage tornado shelter.

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