When tornadoes hit Tennessee a few weeks ago I was relieved that Toby and Ree were not affected. I also realized that although I sort of had categorized Tennessee as a "safe place" to live, there probably are none. I thought TN was below the tornado belt, above the hurricanes, east of earthquakes... but I guess weather changes are getting to every nook and cranny of the world.
Last night we had tornadoes in Iowa City. I was downtown at the Institute building (thank goodness for standing in holy places, right?) when hail began to pummel the building. I thought the skylights might break as the half-inch pieces rained down. Soon the power went out and I was stranded at the building--not that I would have wanted to leave right then anyway. But after the "all clear" the parking arm was locked in the down position and crews are still battling power line problems across Eastern Iowa this morning. Boss, when the cell phone didn't give the "network busy" signal, got in touch and told me funnel clouds had touched down about two blocks east of me, a half mile west, and about a mile and a half south.
Our family is safe, but some were not so lucky.
I will always have this dramatic memory of Iowa.
4 comments:
Glad all are safe!!
I, too, tend to think of TN as a safe place. Especially here in East TN where the hills kinda keep the tornadoes from getting very strong. But even over here, we saw some pretty vicious hail and thunderstorms last week. Not as bad as what you experienced, I guess. I'm glad you guys were not harmed in the storm.
They had a picture in our paper today of the debris left after the tornado in your city...yikes! I'm glad you all are safe, and not still stuck behind the gaurd arm!
Yes, glad you guys are safe and sound. Tornadoes, straight-line winds, hurricanes, and earthquakes are all quite scary. Can you believe I have experienced earthquakes and straight-line winds in both California AND Arkansas? In AR, we lived right on the New Madrid fault line, and the earthquake I felt there was bigger than the one I felt in CA. The straight-line winds in both places blew down trees and blew off roofs. The straight-line winds in IA were worse, though, because it was so flat that there was no windbreak anywhere. Though seeing a tornado up close and in person in Arkansas was quite scary. What I'm saying is, you're right, you can't escape the natural disasters anywhere you go. At least in TX, we get marching orders to get out of the path of the hurricanes and instead get stuck in thousands of miles of cars . . . Great post, Coach.
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