New Experience...The Tornado Warning

Before coming to Missouri, there are some things that this California girl just hasn’t had to deal with. Some things are great such as how friendly and welcoming most people are and how green everything is for most of the year and even, the lack of constant traffic.

But there are also some bad things that I’ve never dealt with. High humidity is one…sucks the energy right out of you and you better be comfortable with sweating all the time. Air conditioner is my very best friend when the humidity climbs. Tourist season in Branson…the main strip is lined in cars that only move about 30 MPH…if you’re lucky. I’m learning the back roads that, in any other season, would be the long way around but are life savers when the tourists come to town.

One thing that surprised me was the intensity of the storms here. Frightened at first, I am slowly getting used to them. The lightening lights up the sky while the thunder rolls through the Ozark hills, lasting a long time. I remember the first big storm at night. A huge flash that registers somewhere in your brain as you sleep and then BOOOOM! The entire building shook. Dirk put a hand on me and reassuringly said “I’m right here”.

And the rain that accompanies these storms! Torrential rains, or at least seems like that to me. Rain coming down so hard you can see it rolling down the streets in sheets. And hitting your roof so hard there is a constant dull roar with periods of even harder rain that makes you stop and yet once again, get up and look out the window and wonder where all the water is going to go.

But last night I got to “experience” another thing that happens in the mid-west that this California girl has never been around…the tornado warning. I’ve been in Branson when there has been tornado watches and when I first got here, I asked Dirk, “what do I do if there is a tornado?”. He looked at me and, teasing, said “get in a doorway?”…funny guy and I rolled my eyes reminding him that’s what we do in earthquakes.

The Branson area is in the Ozarks and very hilly. When Dirk lived in Hollister, his apartment was lower and he, and others, told me not to worry about tornados. One because tornados tend to like flatter landscape and IF one was to occur here, it would “skip” along the hill tops.

Tornado Siren

Well, our new condo is on a hilltop and one of the tornado sirens is less than 100 feet away. I had noticed the siren before and laughingly told one of my friends that if it went off, I’d probably sh*t myself.

Ok, so now I know I won’t actually do that!

For my California family and friends…the difference between a watch and a warning.... A tornado watch means conditions are favorable for the development of tornados in the area. Stay aware of what is going on and be ready to take action quickly. A warning means a tornado has been sighted or indicated by radar and there is imminent danger to life and property. It means take immediate action to be safe, moving to an inner room on the lowest level of the building you are in.

1st Rotation Sighted

So, back to last night. We’re sound asleep when the siren starts wailing. And let me tell you…it’s LOUD! Dirk gets up and goes out on our balcony and our phones light up with warnings from the National Weather Service. I get up and I’m standing there saying “I don’t know what to do”. What I didn’t know until later was that Dirk saw the sky had a greenish tint to it, something many people describe before a tornado that scientifically has to do with light waves and color spectrum, blah, blah, blah.

The wind was whipping around and Dirk calmly said “get some jeans on” and then he was holding a jacket out for me telling me to put it on. Like any other woman, I grabbed my purse but also his glasses and phone. Dirk closed the doors to our balcony and led me to the front door. Closing it, but leaving it unlocked, he took my hand and we walked downstairs to the main level of the complex that leads to the garages.

Warning Area & Approaching Storm

We stood there for a while. Dirk holding my hand and me whimpering “what are we going to do”. Then the wind really picked up and the lights started to flicker and went out for a moment. Dirk put the hood of my jacket over my head, later telling me it was to protect me from any lightbulbs that might break overhead. And then he buried my head into his chest.

That’s when it got even scarier. Thunder, just a constant boom…rolling through the hills. The lightening was coming one flash right after the other and I could hear the wind howling. Like a little kid, I told Dirk “I don’t want to do this anymore”. And I will admit that I was scared and crying. 

Dirk then led me down to the lowest level in the complex, almost underground and reinforced by brick. I have to say, I felt safer there and Dirk held me until the sirens stopped and the major part of the storm seemed to have passed.

We came back up to our condo and took a deep breath. It was then that Dirk articulated how nervous he had been. Thank god, he didn’t show it. I had been scared we would get separated somehow and he was scared that I would say “The heck with this, I’m going back to California.”

Not that the thought didn’t cross my mind!