Last Thursday night the entire state was hit by a storm system that eventually killed over 40 people across the country. In our state, alone, seven people died.
Thank goodness, we made it through but not without a story.
My college BF Laura and her husband stayed Thursday and Friday nights with us because Cory had a conference in Little Rock. When we went to bed Thursday night we knew that storms were moving to central Arkansas but did not think it was going to be too dangerous.
Around 1:30 A.M. I heard the sweet voice of Laura come in our bedroom, "Kendall, I think the tornado sirens are going off." I got out of bed, started watching the weather and was quite relieved to hear the tornado threat was North of us. Because Beau was still asleep we went to the guest bedroom to watch the weather reports.
As we were watching our trusty weatherman he pointed out that something concerned him, a hook on the radar that had just appeared. I believe he said something like, "Oh this doesn't look good here" and circled the new danger zone which just so happened to be right above our heads. No sooner did those words leave his mouth did the satellite lose it's signal. There's something about the t.v. going blank that really freaks me out so it did not help when we heard a distant roar. Laura and I quickly made eye contact as if to say, "Do you hear that too?" We live close to tracks so I was hoping it was just a train. However, as the sound got closer and closer it sounded nothing like a train. It was just like the sound of the jet engines on a plane, right before take off. My heart jumped in my throat and I took off running across the house to wake up Beau. When I yelled for him he jumped up and started grabbing for his gun. I was all, "Easy there, Mr. NRA. It's a tornado not a break in."
Discussions took place about where the safest place would be for us to go (the Red Cross would not be happy with our non-plan.) Mind you, if a tornado had been coming right for our house, we would all be dead. Except Mamie. I have a feeling she would have survived and her sad story about being blown 200 yards from her home to a muddy ditch would have aired on the nightly national news along with a live shot of the mutt flashing her shelter eyes to the camera that would say, "I swear, my previous owners never fed or petted me and certainly never let me sleep in their bed with them at night", hundreds of people would offer to adopt her and after reviewing the candidates herself, she would choose to live with some millionaire cattle rancher in Montana who would allow her to play with squeaky toys full of cotton stuffing, she would eat steak every night from a golden bowl and have a paid, full-time belly/ear rubber follow her around 24 hours a day. But I digress.
Laura, Me and Mamie got in the hallway with pillows until Beau told us to get in the laundry room, so we did. All of us, in the laundry room, pillows in hand, doors shut in pitch black. Had we lost electricity? No, it just never occurred to us to turn the light on. I did have my cell phone to look at radar (like I would know how to spot a tornado on Doppler) and from the light of it, we could see Mamie starring at us with a look of, "You people have all gone mad pulling me out of bed in the middle of the night to just stand here in the dark."
A second before we all decided the danger had past Beau said, "Wait a minute. We shouldn't get in the laundry room in a tornado because a portion of it is an exterior wall." GREAT. You mean to tell me that after debating the safest place for us to go as a tornado was over our heads and removing Laura, me and the mutt from what was probably, after all, the safest location in the house, you relocated us to a room that not only has an exterior wall, but contains two large machines that would probably crush us all as that exterior wall gave way.
Luckily, we were all safe and had no damage. There was, in fact, a tornado that touched down not too far from us. Do we have any way to tell that it was the beginnings of a tornado that went over our house? No, but I do know that it was a little too close for comfort.
The storm dodging did not end with that, however. Three nights ago there was another system that swept through the state bringing with it more tornado warnings for our county.
After the debacle that occurred while Laura and Cory were here, we decided that the safest place for us to go would be the hallway coat closet as it is the most interior location of the house and is not close to windows. As the tornado sirens went off we made our way there calmly and smoothly. Smooth until Mamie decided she wasn't getting in there with us. If you have read this blog for more than four seconds you probably know how we feel about her so instead of risking the dog's life we freaked out and started the safest location debate allllllllll over again.
We then made way to our bedroom closet, not an exterior wall and could hold a small army (I've said it before on here, it was the selling point for me on the house.) So we sat and waited and waited and waited some more. Once the all clear was sounded we piled out. An hour later, we were back. I'm amused at how little attention Mamie pays to storms. They bother her not. Most dogs I know freak in bad weather by hiding under the bed. My sister once had a cocker spaniel that always hid in the bathtub. What was our dog doing in our tornado safe place/closet during the hail, rain, wind, lightening and thunder that was taking place over our heads?
That's right, not a care in the world.
So thankful we were kept safe again. I would love to avoid any more of those close calls. I also know that as long as I live in Arkansas, the above probably won't happen.
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