First hand Experience of a Tornado

TORNADO

Wow what a few very long and tense hours we had yesterday and into last night. We had Tornado watches posted all day. Then at 8pm our time we had a tornado warning come through. Watching the news and the weather the Tornado came with in 1/4 a mile of us. We could see the winds, and the clouds moving. The official word is that the tornado started as a water spout came on to land becoming a tornado then went back into a water spout over the water and then was making land again.

This is a picture taken by a viewer sent in to the news station. This is over the water as it is coming to land.

The bad thing for the day was the NOAA weather radio was not working. After contacting the news they reported that the station was down due to work crews that had by accident cut down the lines. Not a good day for this to happen. So we were able to keep updated by the local weather and news channels, via the apps they have for the smart phones, facebook, and such. Many of the local news even went and streamed online for those that lost power and could access them via their smart phones.

I was constantly monitoring the weather channel, the apps for weather on my phone. I was alerted to the WARNING via facebook! All since the weather radio was down and not transmitting. I get weather alerts directly to my phone, trust me it was going off all night!

We had our plan in effect and we knew what to do. We were safe and no harm happened to us or where we live. Just 1/4 a mile away is where most things happened. We did have wind and LOTS of rain. There were things that blew around. We had some minor flooding.

Key here is know what to do when watches, and warnings come out. Stay connected to local news channels. Facebook, twitter and the apps that are available are great tools for being updated! Have your family's plan and kits ready to go. Keep things in an easy to get to place. Plan, prepare and be safe. You also need to have a battery powered radio and know what radio station to tune in to.

You also need to follow officials directions. Many people were wanting to look at the damage, it was not safe to be out while there were downed power lines, and debris everywhere. When you are told to stay home, stay inside, it is for a reason.  The pictures and such that are being shared tells us we are all very lucky that no one was hurt seriously. People are out cleaning things up, trying to make things safe. Good news is today is going to be sunny and nice, no storms for today.

When we woke up this morning after all the storms had passed. Trust me I did not sleep all that well. But when we looked out the window, and went outside on our back patio it looked as a brand new day. There was no hint in the sky of the storms and the tornado that came through the night before.

So check another natural disaster of my list of ones I have loved through.