It's been raining all day. So the drive in this morning was slower because people freak out when it's raining. About 4:00 pm, there was a huge blast of hail, but it's Spring in Oklahoma, so I didn't think much about it.
I noticed that traffic was heavier, earlier in the day, but I didn't think much of it. If the weather is bad, they'll certainly tell us on the radio, right? So I was locking up the front door and walking to my car enjoying a cookie, when I heard the tornado sirens going off just south of my office.
I got in the car and headed east towards the house. I was looking at blue sky but the ugly stuff was to my back (west). About 2 minutes after I got in the car, not only did they break into the music to say that we were under a tornado warning, but they joined the weather simulcast. Yes, now they are pre-empting radio too. I joke, but I knew at that point it was serious. Even more so because I was in my car, which isn't exactly the safest place to be.
I'm trying to get home as quickly as possible when I remember that my gas light had come on that morning on the way into work and I didn't want to stop because of the rain. So I stopped to get gas and tried to hurry so that I could get home.
As I hear death and destruction on the radio (100+ mph winds hitting the TV station and hearing them freak out), I'm starting to get a little freaked. I can see blue sky ahead of me. I'm right on the edge of the weather. In my rear view is nothing but black.
I'm starting to relax a little as the people on the radio calm down a little. It's only sprinkling where I'm at, but my blue sky is getting a little hazy. Just then there is a HUGE bolt of lightening that crackles to the south of me and then spreads across the sky. Then the radio chirps with another tornado warning east of me.
Yes, Internet, my blue sky turned into another storm. I gripped the steering wheel so tight, I'm only now getting the blood flow back into my fingers. At that point, I was about 6 miles from home, so I hit the gas!
I did get home and promptly curled up in the fetal position with the covers pulled up over my head.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Commute from Hell
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3 comments:
You're better than me. I think I would have been online that night looking for our next location OUT of tornado land. Glad you made it. Should we start a collection for the steel pod you can put in your yard for a shelter?
Yes, pass the hat. Those things are crazy expensive!! And honestly, it was the first time in 2 years that I've been nervous about the weather.
That totally says something if YOU are getting a little nervous (vs annoyed) at broadcast warnings!! I'm just glad you made it home safe!! Me? I'd have been standing on your front lawn jumping up and down with my camera wishing we were back at your office!! And you'd be dragging me back inside!! So maybe its good I visited LAST year and not this year!!
STAY SAFE!!
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