6/13/11

Saturday night in the cellar!


This was my view on Saturday night for an hour or two, the storm cellar window that overlooks our backyard - as I have said before this window's just so you can watch your house blow by.

About 8:30pm the town tornado siren went off, somewhat to our surprise as we were watching the volatile storms closeby on the radar and from the porch, and they seemed to be just north of us.

Now my outlook on storms has changed alot in the almost 6 years I have been here and this is only the second time the siren has sounded in that time. In the early years I would have been packing stuff for a hour or two before, just in case. This time I was sitting on the porch watching the storm pass by, nothing gathered, nothing prepared including the cellar.


So we grabbed the important things - weather radio, scanner, radio, 3 cats (Buddy was awol), wallets, keys to vehicles, cellphones & charges, rx meds and headed down there. As it became clear it wasn't directly on us still, we took it in turns to run back into the house and grab a few clothes, proper shoes ( the recent tornado hits have educated me on no flip-flops afterwards), lap-top, wedding rings, water, cameras.

And here we are above, well the cats anyway (spot the cat eyes of Cal Jo in the carrier), surrounded by assorted junk and clutter we either store in the cellar or took in there.


This was the Hubster sprinting up the stairs to peek out the door into the yard and see if he could spot anything. I was busy texting local friends for info and cellar/weather comparisons.

And then the whole County lost power and we were all plunged into darkness in a helluva storm. So the extension unit we had setup to power the scanner, lights, fan (it was damn hot down there) phone chargers went down. Luckily we have back-up batteries in the weather radio which was a god-send and the Hubster turned his Pick-up radio up loud on the local station so we could hear it above us.


We didn't get back into the house until about 10:40pm, after a massive lightening show (this picture is lit by a big flash), hail, torrential rain and 70mph winds, but thankfully no tornado.

The tornado went through 3 miles north of us and a number of people we know sustained damage. In fact one lady called me to see if she can visit our storm cellar, as she has now been convinced to put one in having lost a barn and had roof and tree damage. We had no damage, but the power did not come back on until 7:30am the next morning. Buddy arrived on the porch at 4:30am none the worse for wear and so it was a very disturbed night, but thankfully damage free for us.

You'd have been proud of me though - no panicking like a headless chicken, or rows with the Hubster because he wasn't in the cellar with the safety door down.

I must now be officially Okie, as I repeatedly chanced returning to the house in any lulls (I wasn't about to pee in the yard and get struck by lightening), stood in the shelter of a door watching it all blow by at speed and only retreated into the cellar fully to check on our kitties.

14 comments:

A Brit in Tennessee said...

Ooh, I'm so glad to hear everyone is safe, it's always a panic when those tornado sirens sound, you just never know.
Three miles is too close !. We have had four touch downs already this year, within two miles of the house, we're thinking about purchasing a safe room.
Lovely to see your back, and safe !
Hugs,
~Jo

Unknown said...

Been missing you girl. You really had some scary weather but I am glad you had a safe place to wait it out.

Sherri said...

Sarah, I am so glad you and your hubby (and cats) are fine! I have really missed your posts! I'm glad you have a safe place to go when you need it!

Snippety Gibbet said...

Holy smokes! I'm glad to hear that you and your's made out okay. That's some pretty scary stuff. jan

Jill of All Trades said...

It is scary stuff. Glad you are safe.

Gaelyn said...

Wow, that's Way too much excitement for one stormy night! And You, being cool as an Okie cucumber, in the storm cellar have come a long ways. Sure glad it missed you and good to see your post.

Yogi♪♪♪ said...

Glad you have room for hubby down in the cellar.

By the time my wife gets herself, the kid, the dogs, cats, in our safe space, its "good luck Yogi!" time;)

Rob said...

Sounds like you have this storm preparedness down to a tee, seems mighty scary though!

The windows in the cellar are a nice touch!

Pam said...

The part that qualifies you as an official Okie now is the "standing on my porch watching the storm blow by" .... glad no damage, girl, and hope to see you guys soon!

Anonymous said...

It is hurricane season for Hawaii also. If the siren sounds, we are supposed to stay at a local school cafeteria, though I don't know how secure and sturdy the roof and walls are!

It's good your tornado did not touch you and your house!

Daryl said...

I worry about you every time I hear there's a tornado ... so glad you've mastered the Okie state of calm through it .. must be residuals of the WW II Blitz stamina in your DNA

Linda Jennings said...

You have been in my thoughts during this tornado season.

Stella Jones said...

I'm glad to hear you're o.k Sarah. It must be very frightening, even when you get used to it happening. I don't like it in Tennessee when I hear that siren going off and in the apartment block, there is no storm cellar. However, we have been lucky so far. We did get flooded back in February but no tornados yet! Take care.

Kay said...

Good grief! That's incredible! Thank goodness you have a cellar. I would think everybody would want one in your area. It's been a crazy storm year, hasn't it? When we returned from our trip, everybody told us that there was crazy weather in Hawaii too. We figured something was up when we saw all the digital clocks were blinking everywhere.