Tornado City
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
In which St. Louis is peppered with a whimsical array of Tornadic activity…
The day bespoke Tornadoes.
Before 4:30, the first wave arrived, bringing a wake of Tornado Watches and Warnings. Collette stayed awake until she thought there was a good enough break until the next arrival. Back to sleep again until 6:45 or so, to realize that they had just passed through another patch of Tornado Watches, that had only just seemed to expire.
The morning, still foreboding in all its nature, started right off with…
Discussions with Dad, OLeif, and Francis about the transmission dying in the Civic, and what to do about it.
Academic advising.
Budget structures.
“Maaaaaaamaaaaaaa! My little car just fell in the loo!”
(Tears.)
Rainstorm.
Puck dressed himself in track pants and argyle sweater.
And finally to some reading: a penguin afraid of ghosts, by a Belgian artist.
Before noon, everyone was in a Tornado Watch. The sun was deceptively deceiving. From Arkansas to Chicago, from Kansas City to Indianapolis. It was a veritable bed of agitation.
“I guess I’d better get the fish on for lunch before the Tornados arrive,” said Collette.
“No, Mama,” Puck protested. “I’m not hungry. Feel my tummy. It’s not beating!”
Nevertheless, lunch was served, as the map continued to spin in an enormous circle of storms spewing splotches of red Tornado Warnings every few counties. And Dad and Francis would most likely be driving right through all of it…
By the early afternoon, the local radar was a fan of reds, pinks, orange, yellows, and greens: Tornado Warnings, Tornado Watches, high wind advisories, severe thunderstorm warnings, and flood watches, respectively.
Suddenly, everyone was in the way of it.
Dad and Francis driving through the expansive watch.
Mom, Carrie-Bri, and the animals were in the basement, under warning.
Collette and Puck the same, in their warning.
Rose was hiding out in the bathroom at work, warning, for two hours.
OLeif… well, the funnel cloud was right over his intersection off the highway at work.
It was a long time in the basement of phone calls, IMs, texts, and the good old tele. But all passed in due time without incident.
By early in the evening, there was an unbroken line of Tornado Watches from Texas to New York. An eerie unconventionality.
“…still rotating into that warm, juicy air that has not been tapped yet.”
– Cindy Preszler, News Channel 5