We all get it from time to time.


 
Scott Smith said:
If anybody really ignored a tornado siren, would they still be here to talk about it?
Click to expand...
Uh....... <raises hand>

Several years ago, the summer when I welded up my monster gravity fed smoker, we got something like 5 tornadoes that all touched down within a 5 mile radius nearly simultaneously. I'd just loaded up the smoker with brisket, pork butt & chicken for 70 people. I hadn't realized that the weather was going to get so flippin' ugly. My g/f, a buddy (he was using our guest room,) & I had gone downtown for dinner, and just gotten our beers when the owner's wife stood at the corner of the bar and screamed "EVERYBODY! DOWNSTAIRS! NOW!" This is decidedly atypical behavior and got everybody moving. We spent an hour downstairs, and ended up heading for home as the tavern no longer had power. There's way more to this tale, but the food came out pretty darned good, and the smoker didn't budge. Okay, in it's defense, it weighs around 1,200 lbs.

But yeah, I did sorta ignore a tornado siren.
 
Yeah, guilty as charged. Funny anecdote:
A number of years back when wife and I were still hosting exchange students, we had gotten a girl from Belgium. Her dad was VERY concerned about his "baby" coming to live in the upper Midwest because we get weather patterns they never see. Well, her first night here (a Saturday), she said she really wanted to watch Twister as she'd never seen it. Well, we just happened to have the DVD and so we all watched it and enjoyed popcorn. Wouldn't ya know a powerful front was going to come through the next day. Weather turned VERY ugly, for which I could not be bothered as I was cooking. Wife had tv on, warning after warning (not "watches" "warnings". Uglier and uglier, lightning hitting, hail, you name it. I was not paying attention to the kids. Then sirens TV noted touchdown in Cherry Valley reported. She hustled the girls into the basement. I stayed at the stove :D Lots of noise and fury outside (enough to get my attention this time). I went to the front window, looked outside, and saw the damndest thing. So, I shouted over to my wife "Holy S&*T the rain is going UP! She told me "be quiet" I thought because of my expletive. She said no, she is downstairs crying hysterically and scared out of her mind because she thinks she's only here 2 days and going to die in a twister.
Weather calmed down, lots of broken limbs I had actually gone outside. Funnel went "over" us which was why everything was "going up". It had actually touched down just 1/4 mile from our house to the south. Someone had taken a photo of it. Through it all I did not abandon my post and Sunday dinner was on time and delish. :D
The girl was still scared to death, her father had actually seen it in Belgium and was on the phone with her telling her he was buying her a return ticket. She stayed though. Eventually got over it
 
Here in NJ it is the opposite of tornado alley. We get maybe a handfull each year touching down each year in the entire state. We don't have sirens - the alert comes on your phone. We did actually got one once. We knew it might be coming, so the kids had set up blankets and such in the basement. It was a novelty.
 
Scott Smith said:
Here in NJ it is the opposite of tornado alley. We get maybe a handfull each year touching down each year in the entire state. We don't have sirens - the alert comes on your phone. We did actually got one once. We knew it might be coming, so the kids had set up blankets and such in the basement. It was a novelty.
Click to expand...
Funny the only tornado I have ever seen was in south Jersey. I was going back to Stockton (Pomona NJ) from Philly. We stopped on the side of the road to watch. Scarry but cool.
 
Heck, I was one block from the center of downtown Kalamazoo when “The Big One” came through in 1980 (?) since I was at work I wasn’t cooking. After the thing went through, I called my mom and told her I was fine her response was so her!
“Well, that’s nice.” She had heard the sirens and was working on some embroidery, didn’t have the TV on so, she was oblivious!
It was a nasty one, we lost 37 windows in my bosses building! Part of the business was a glass shop so, we got pretty much right away. That old man could glaze a sash as fast as I could cut and point in the glass! That was a crazy couple of days! Girlfriend was out of town but, the thing went two blocks from her mothers house and took out several friends places, have not thought about that in a long time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top