Saturday, June 1, 2013

A Little Eerie

All week our area managed to miss out on the violent storms others were experiencing. Friday evening the luck ran out the northern part of the City, County, and St.Charles County. (You can read about the storms here, and see photos of the damage here.)

I was at Neve Shalom for Friday night prayers when the storm front moved through. There weren't many of us. My friend Will was leading. Earlier when I had walked in there was only he and his friend. He said, "It might just be the three of us." He admitted he had thought about canceling the Service because of the possibility of severe weather. I, too, admitted I almost hadn't come, but not because of the weather. I was exhausted from the work week and navigating all the changes occurring in my life. I understood where he was coming from though, it is rather disconcerting when driving past the MODOT information signs to read, "USE CAUTION SEVERE WEATHER AHEAD." By and by, two other souls braved the night.

We weren't far into the prayers when the warning to take cover came. Neve is now located on the lower floor of a highrise apartment building. We moved into the center of the building where we were joined by a slow trickle of residents. Will brought his guitar and played. The rest of us kept an eye on our smart phones and talked to loved ones. Eventually we did Kiddush and motzi. All the while the weather action stayed to the north of us.

This scenario was a little eerie for Will and I. We both had been at Neve on another Friday night not so very long ago, 22 April 2011. This was the night of the Good Friday Tornado. (You can read about it and see photos by clicking here.) Neve Shalom was located in the basement of another building at the time. And once again the storm stayed to the north of us.

My son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter live near where the tornado in St.Charles County hit. I was worried until I heard they were safe. As is so often the case with the weather here, this evening's storms were isolated and fast moving. Heather stayed home. At the condo there was only heavy rain and maybe some small hail, but nothing we'd call severe. It was pretty much just a Spring thunderstorm.

I drove home in a steady rain, the worse was long past.

Today it looked threatening for most of the day, yet there was nary a sprinkle.

I even thought about going for a ride. Instead I did some chores, ran some errands, read some blogs, and rested up. Tomorrow the weather is suppose to be ideal for riding. That said, this is the Heartland, and here it is always best to wait and see.

13 comments:

  1. Glad you were OK. What a familiar scenario.

    Here I don't know what is worse- a tornado or the siren 3 feet from my house.

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    1. Make that 30 feet from my house....whew.

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    2. Still plenty loud! Here the sirens also talk. The sirens sounds and then a voice tells you what is going on. We're far enough away that we can never hear what the voice is saying. Oh well, sounds like you're close enough.

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  2. I am very glad that you and Heather are safe. One of those things in life that i haven't experienced, tornados. And I don't think I want to.

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    1. I've never been really in one and I know I don't want to be. Every place has it's dangers I suppose.
      ~k

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  3. Keith, glad you are safe. The sirens and the thought of a tornado coming through must be terrifying.
    I hope that the changes you will be going through are good ones.

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    1. Tornadoes are terrifying. So much power.

      The changes are a mixed bag of things. I'm sure all will be well, I'm just getting a lot of them all at once. Thanks for the good wish.
      ~k

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  4. We've been following the news from your area the last while and extend our sympathies to all who have lost everything to these storms. I know it's mostly luck whether one hits you directly but even so I'm not sure I could live comfortably with the knowledge that, but for lottery-ticket odds, I could be in the middle of the next storm's path. I may hate our long winters here but have to admit they are rarely as destructive and life-threatening.

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    1. As I mentioned above all areas have their dangers. Yes, it is lottery-ticket odds and one just doesn't think about it. I'm glad to have a basement and to live in the day when smart phones can almost show you the storms path as it moves. It really helps to get to cover. I think this is one of the reasons so few were hurt in our storms, the warning system worked and with Moore, Oklahoma fresh in our minds we took cover.

      Thanks for the comment,
      ~k

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  5. I am glad everyone was safe.

    I can't imagine worrying about family like that when the bad weather hits.

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    1. Bad weather brings worry. You hear the names of towns near where loved ones live and hurtful possibilities flood the mind. I wasn't paralyzed with fear and trusted they were smart enough to be under cover...still, it was very worrisome. Grateful for texts.
      ~k

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  6. Glad you and your family were safe! I think I would be pretty terrified at the thought of a tornado. But then I live in an earthquake zone, so I wonder everyday if this is the day - sounds fatalistic, but I am earthquake-phobe.

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    1. My daughter is terrified of earthquakes. She'd take the tornadoes over the earthquakes anytime. It seems every place has its dangers. It is so true though, one can't help but think about it. At least here we can see the weather brewing...with an earthquake, there it is, no warning. Not nice.
      ~k

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