Tornado Alley - Toot Sweet 4 Two

I get out of bed, put on my slippers and groggily pad down the hallway. I’m not a morning person and I’m looking for my first cup of coffee of the day. Charlie wakes up before me everyday, feeds our cat, Coco, and makes me coffee. I’m a lucky girl.

Coming around the corner from our family room, Charlie greets me. “Where does Chris’s family live?” he asks.

“Indiana. Why?” I respond.

“There were 80 tornadoes overnight in 12 states and Indiana was one of those states. It’s all over the news. The devastation is mind-numbing,” he replies.

My heart jumps to my throat and I mumble that I need to find my cell phone. Not fully awake, my mind is whirling in confusion. Chris is Tiffany’s husband and the Princesses P’s father and he had been in Indiana for the last several days visiting his parents and his family.

My hands shaking, I dial Tiffany’s number. Thank goodness for modern phones because she’s one of my “favorites” and get her number with one touch of my finger instead of actually dialing a list of numbers. She picks up right away.

“Tiffany, have you heard from Chris? Is he okay? Is his family okay?”

“Yes, I heard from him earlier this morning. They went to a neighbor’s basement. They are okay and his family is okay.”

But, so many aren’t.

The news reports show picture after picture of giant tornadoes twisting across the Midwest and endless debris fields lying in their wake. Entire towns have been flattened. How can you prepare for this type of devastation? You can’t. But, you can heed warnings and get to safety.

Growing up in Tennessee and Arkansas, I remember clearly the eerie weather patterns that form leading up to potential tornado touch-downs. The sky separates into distinctive layers of color; 50 shades of gray, if you will. And, the quiet. The world goes silent for a spell. All other life forms, animals, birds, insects, etc., heed the warning and disappear. Humans wait and watch.

And, then the freight train hits. When I was 19-years-old, our neighborhood was flattened by a tornado. Our home was one of the fortunate ones spared while others lay in heaps of twisted wreckage strewn across the ground.

Here are two sites with information about tornado preparedness and safety.

FEMA: Tornadoes – this is the federal government’s site, which also includes information on other types of disasters, such as Earthquakes and Hurricanes.

Tornado Preparedness: The Six Keys to Safety – this is a for-profit site selling a manual and CD called Disaster Prep 101: The Ultimate Guide to Emergency Readiness. However, it offers information on its site that readers can use now.

Our hearts and prayers go out to the families affected by this latest disaster. In the blink of an eye, their world has turned upside-down.

Until Next Time,

(other posts about emergency planning and preparedness)

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