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Last Night’s Scary Tornado
All week my daughter took a class in a busy part of the city. Road construction around here is terrible right now, and we were both glad last night was her final meeting. When class let out, the sky turned an ugly yellow-brown on one side and dark blue on the other.
As soon as we got on the highway we knew we were in trouble. Tornado warnings and severe thunderstorm warnings blared from the radio. The sky behind us grew muddy brown as two lines of stopped traffic greeted us. The nearest exit was three miles away. We were trapped.
A huge murky white cloud to our left flashed intermittent lightning. Traffic crawled, stopped, then nudged ahead. Tornado sirens screeched outside. My daughter Googled what to do during a tornado if you were in a car. Naturally, automobiles are the most dangerous place to be in during a tornado! The radio announcers kept saying to get to a safe place.
We wanted to get to a safe place, but how could we? We couldn’t get off the highway!
The weather grew more severe, but my daughter texted friends and learned the weather at home was even worse. Apparently our house was being pelted with hail. A tornado touched down in a town a few miles from ours.
The sky grew darker and darker, but thankfully, the tornado and storm were heading east of us. It took us an hour to get home, but we made it safely.
My brain kept going back to my book. Small-Town Bachelor features a terrifying tornado. I’ve been near tornadoes in the past, but this was the first time we were stuck in a traffic jam with one nearby. I prefer to be in the safety of my basement! Severe storms and tornadoes are scary, and I hope we won’t be anywhere near one again!
Have you ever been stuck in a tornado? What storms scare you?
My friend, the extremely talented writer Beth K. Vogt, is hosting me on her blog today! She features quotables! I love her site. 🙂
Also, if you’re in the Oakley, Michigan area this Saturday, April 11, pop in at the Oakley Village Hall from 2-4pm for an author meet and greet! I’ll be selling and signing copies of Small-Town Bachelor! See my Events page for the address and details.
Have a terrific weekend!!
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So glad you made it home safely! I’d be panicked, for sure. You have a very level-headed daughter!
It was awful, Kathy! At one point I told my DD if we saw a funnel cloud behind us I was driving through the ditch to head north on the other side of the highway! Thank you!!
That must have been so frightening, Jill. I’m glad you and your daughter are safe.
I finally got my copy of your book! Each time I went to Walmart, they were sold out. 🙂
Thank you, Jill! It was really scary. I’m glad we got home, too!! Thank you so much for buying my book!!!
Jill, so thankful you are safe! I was praying for my friends I knew were in the path of the severe weather.
Since we’re smack-dab in the middle of tornado alley, we’ve been in several tornadoes–two in recent years and both on Sunday evenings after church! We have a “safe room” with concrete on all sides, but we could hear the twisters sweep by right overhead. A little further down our street, houses were leveled–it looked like bombs went off. I still have nightmares about it. We had damage, but nothing compared to our friends and neighbors.
In one of my stories, there’s a tornado that sweeps through town–pretty easy to write what we know. Blech.
Loved Small-Town Bachelor! (And I could well identify with the tornado scene. Well done!)
{{{HUGS}}}
I worried about you yesterday, too, Cynthia! This is always extreme weather season for you, isn’t it? How scary about your poor neighbors. So sad. 🙁 Thank you!!
That must have been so frightening. Glad the angels were watching over you. When the Eldest was in kindergarten, the sky turned a weird shade of grey-green like the color of hard-boiled egg yolks that are over cooked. The kindergarten bus was late. The sky kept getting darker and darker. I’d never seen anything like it. I just kept pacing outside looking up and down the street for the bus. Relieved when it finally arrived.
Me too, CJ! And I would have been a basket case waiting for that bus!! The sky always turns weird shades when a tornado is near. The green is a sure sign one is close by. 🙁
The weather was crazy, wasn’t it? How scary for you to be in the car at that time. I’m glad you and your daughter are okay.
Did it do any damage to your property, Constance? I was worried about you last night. The radio announcers kept saying a tornado touched down in P-burg township. So scary!!