Auntie Em! Auntie Em!
I was napping.
And was woken around 6PM by thunder. I thought: Thank goodness! Rain maybe!
Getting up, I looked out the window. Blue sky. Huh?
The thunder continued and continued. As did the blue sky.
Going to my computer I checked out the weather radar. Well, a storm was headed my way. Thank goodness! Rain maybe!
Time passed. Still blue sky. Then I received a text alert:
Powerful storm on the way.
3-inch hail expected.
Oh…shit!
Still blue sky though.
Time passed.
Another text alert:
Tornado likely.
Oh…fuck!
Still blue sky though.
Finally though a bit of rain began falling. Then I heard dings against the house. Hail! But tiny hails. Like 1/2-inch hail.
Ross unconcerned.
Then another text alert:
Tornado sighted in Cottonwood Falls.
This was a mile away. A moment later the Strong City (where I live) tornado siren went off.
FUCK!
Then something quite unexpected happened.
I have a basement. To access the basement I have to go out to the south deck, and pull up a large hinged deck panel revealing the stone steps to the basement. I did this, then went to gather the kitties.
I found none. None. They had vanished. Even Gray, who had been in the house. I called and called. No kitties were forthcoming.
It was obvious: They understood bad was on the way.
Fuck.
For many decades I knew I was not the kind of person who would abandon my pets during an emergency. Unthinkable.
But tonight? What choice did I have? The siren shrieked, no kitties could be found, and only one option was suddenly available: Save myself.
Fuck.
I went into the basement. Sans kitties.
Then the power went out.
Fuck.
A new text alert:
Tornado confirmed in Strong City.
What? What? FUCK! FUCK!
So I was likely safe. But my kitties were not.
FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Fifteen minutes passed.
And the outside sounds surprised me.
As there were none.
No rain.
No wind.
No thunder.
Was this good? Or was this terrifying?
I left the basement and stood on the deck. And there, looking at me from the other side of the glass door, was Gray. I teared up. And opened the door. She scurried out. As she rubbed my legs I bent down to gently pet her and assure her that all was well. Gray! Then I carried her to the basement. Putting her down, she bolted and vanished into the yard.
FUCK!
FUCK FUCK FUCK!
The tornado siren resumed
FUCK!
I returned to the basement.
With nary a kitty in sight.
In the dark basement, many minutes passed with no tornado siren and no noise.
I crept back onto the deck.
All was eerily still. No rain. No thunder. No wind. But the sky to the east was electrically illuminated by lightening.
Was I safe? Were the kitties safe?
Another chunk of time passed. It seemed as though the storm had now passed over my area. Headed for…FUCK…Emporia and the Cross House.
Walking into the yard I called out for kitties. I soon found old Fine and old Purrmatic huddled under the east porch. Soooooo not safe. Then Gray came to me. My heart soared. Gray!!!!!!!!! I picked her up and sank my face into her fur. Gray! We went into the house. Bella greeted us!
And Ross?
Happy. Happy happy happy.
My iPhone was invaluable but was losing its charge. I poured a glass of wine…quite sensibly…and went into my car to recharge the phone. I made some calls, particularly to my Emporia friends. Another tornado had touched down north of Emporia but my friends…and the Cross House…were safe.
The electric company had texted me that my power would resume at 10:15 PM. At 10:13PM all my lights suddenly sprang back to life. What hero’s these people be.
As I type these words many hours later Bella is sound sleep on an adjacent chair and Gray is asleep on my desk just under my computer.
And me?
Geez. What a night.
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Oh my goodness!
Palm Sunday 1965 (I was 13) was a tornado day, across the country (most tornados in one day; set a record). A tornado was headed our way in Toledo Ohio. I was upstairs in the bathroom, of the 2-story house I grew up in Toledo OH, No tornado sirens in those days. All of a sudden the house started shaking & cracking and all the windows blew out. A tornado was going over the house. I flew out of the bathroom, down the stairs and through the living room, dining room and kitchen and then flew down the stairs of the basement to ride it out with my family. It seemed like I got to the basement in 5-10 seconds. Thankfully all kitties and the dog were ok. We were all safe. However, the suburb of Point Place on Lake Erie was flattened and there was a great loss of life. Next door neighbors and her friend both had little girls and the girls played together. The little girl in Point Place was killed.
Thank goodness your tornado scare ended ok and all safe.
Oh the vagaries of Kansas weather! Hahaha
I’m in the throes of Rochester MN 80 degree weather for a week;, a cold front and then freezing rain, sleet & 4 inches of snow. Now it’s 40-50 in the day and it’s raining with possibility of snow mix.
Whew!
Well Spring will eventually turn to summer and in Kansas it’s April to October….. I guess I exaggerate. Hahaha! Been away for KS for 6 years. Alas…..
I’m glad you’re all safe. I remember a time back in Minnesota when the tornado sirens went off. I grabbed the cats and headed for the basement, yelling at my husband to round up the two kids.
Where I live there are not tornado sirens. But less than a year ago we had an F3 tornado only several miles from my house. It touched down in Mullica Hill, NJ. It was a wedge tornado. All the news stations were covering the story live. In the aftermath even New York City stations sent news crews to the area to cover the story and show the damage. One eerie aspect of it is seeing the damage to trees in the path of the funnel. A tragic aspect is it killed 100 dairy cows at the Eachus’ farm in Mullica Hill, and extensively damaged their outbuildings. It could have been much worse . The tornado occurred when large numbers of people were on the road coming home from work. Continual warnings on broadcast media warned the public to shelter in their basements and stay off of the roads, then to stay out of the damaged areas. There were live power lines, gas leaks and water flooding basements of damaged homes. So thanks to schools and the media, the public dealt with an emergency that is not expected to happen in southern New Jersey. And, in fact, there were 5 tornadoes that day in the Delaware Valley.
I’m so glad you and your kitties are safe and the Cross House is unscathed! Big hugs!
I’m so glad all are safe. It is terrifying! Had a tornado in my small town in 2011. Put my house cat in the basement and got my 2 outside cats and put them in basement too. Of course being a midwesterner, I had to go look out the window! Until I heard the “train roar noise”. Ran to the basement and sat in closet under the stairs. House cat was at top of stairs wanting out and 2 outside kitties were having a great time exploring! We were blessed an officer saw it coming and sirens went off. No fatalities! News called it “miracle of Mapleton”. I got by with only needing a new roof but think something hit my car as at times it’s hard to unlock. Still get nervous in high winds. Hugs to you and kitties!
We had the same panic here in Wellman, Iowa a few weeks ago. An F-4 tornado hit just a mile away! My kids refuse to go in to the cellar (spiders) so we huddle under the stairs in the closet. There is no room for the three big dogs, and they will NOT go down the stairs to the cellar. So shove them in a bathroom, not the best spot. We each grab the closest cat to take with us, but with 20 in the house, we cannot grab them all! And I just sit there, in the dark, hoping the other cats will be okay. If it was just me, I would probably do things differently (dogs in the closet with me, for starters) but the kids have to come first! It sucks.
Miriam, my dad’s family lived around Wellman decades ago and my parents were living in Keota when I was born. I’m glad you and your family are safe.
This sounds a bit random, but I know that area has a large Amish population. Are you aware of any warning systems for them, apart from community tornado sirens? They seem to be particularly vulnerable.
The rules that each individual Amish community follow, as part of their rejection of “modern” life, are really interesting. Around here, they are using ebikes, for instance. So a battery operated weather radio would definitely be allowed. Most of the farms have phones, now, but the phone itself is in a tiny shed at the corner of their property so it isn’t part of the “family” life. I suspect that they have a ringer, though, in their homes to alert them of calls. The kids carry plastic igloo coolers to school, but they won’t use rubber tires on their tractors. They have washing machines that are gas powered, as are their tractors, but they won’t have cars. The Beachy Amish, one subset here, use computers! I just have to laugh at it, since it makes no sense whatsoever. They also won’t “own” modern businesses or stores, but they get a Mennonite to “buy” it, then they run it, work there, and profit off it. They go to the doctor and hospitals as needed, and accept modern medical care. I personally think that most of their rejection of modernism now is just to keep their identity as “better than” and to promote the tourism in the areas they live in and benefit from. One of my son’s friends has parents that left the Amish, so I have insider knowledge. Lots of animal abuse. Lots of domestic abuse. Not what they are portrayed as at all.
I’m just south of you a bit in El Dorado. We had a whole lot of lightning, a little bit of thunder, no real wind to speak of, and not enough rain to get the porch wet. Nary a tornado in sight (this time!). The Cross House has withstood almost 130 years of Kansas weather. I have every confidence it will stand through at least 130 more. So glad you and the kitties are safe.
Glad everyone is safe. Be on the ready – tis the season.
I do have a question, Ross …
Have you considered storm windows to protect at least, the stained glasswork of the Cross house? It may be worth the effort to create a slim protective layer between the Cross house jewels & the random Kansas hailstone. I also shudder at the thought of losing the sensual curved glass of the receiving room. An inconspicuous frame & pane to fit over the most vulnerable exterior windows might be worth consideration. 💜
I just heard of the tornado in Strong City and rushed over to check your blog. What a relief to know you, the kitties, and the houses came through with nary a scratch. Like you, my concern is getting the cats undercover. Their instincts are pretty reliable, though, so that helps.
Try to relax a bit today and cuddle the furrballs. Take care of yourself, Ross.
Wowzers. Reminds me of the time my boyfriend and I sat outside my folks house in his car as a monster storm with almost baseball sized hail hit in NE Iowa. There was little advanced warning back in the day, but the sky turned greenish even though there was no wind and silence. Turns out that a tornado touched down a few miles away.
So glad you and your kitties are safe.
Yes so glad you and the kitties and Cross House are safe. We have had a few random tornadoes in Westchester, but I have watched The Wizard of Oz at least 350 times. It was my mother’s fav and she took us to see it in the theater in NYC on the 25th anniversary of the movie.
Some scary stories above. Glad everyone in the Ross community mostly escaped without too much harm.
I’m thankful we have a basement!