I can see how all of the horrible of weather events lately could lead a non-atheist to believe that the rapture is coming. Hurricanes and tornadoes and floods and wildfires. It seems that there hasn't been a corner of the world left untouched.
I grew up in tornado alley and tornado warnings were pretty common, so I've never gotten too freaked out by tornadoes.* As kids, we pretty much had to be able to see the funnel before we took cover. Once the sirens went off, the whole neighborhood ran outside to look for the tornado. Our neighbors were to only family on the block with a storm cellar, and there had to be an imminent threat to go down there. It was dark and dank and full of bugs and mice and who knows what else.
But the recent tornadoes and horrible destruction in Joplin and Tuscaloosa have us all a little more on edge when the storm sirens start going off. One night last week the sirens were going off for hours. The kids spent the evening hanging out in the closet under the stairs with their bicycle helmets on. (Nerdy!) At one point they had the bright idea to take the dog and two cats in there with them--you can imagine how well that went over. DH and I were sitting on the couch about 15 feet away.
And this weekend, wildfires were taking over our hometown. They already suffered wildfires earlier this year that burned many homes. This time fewer homes were burned, but two of those were in the neighborhood that FIL and other relatives live in. They were all forced to evacuate last night. That was definitely a little too close for comfort.
I don't remember a year with so many adverse weather events. It does leave you wondering what is causing it and when is it going to end.
*I was at a business dinner about a year ago, and my tablemates were fascinated when they learned my hometown. They wanted to know if I had ever seen a tornado (yes, several), if I had ever been in a tornado (within about half a mile), how often tornadoes came along (a lot).
2 comments:
I'm the same way, I've been in the middle of two tornadoes (one of which hit our high school my freshman year). I'm usually all, pshaw, whatever, when the siren's going off. I'll check the news to make sure one isn't like, headed towards my house, then I'll go about my business. But this year... sheesh. Even the tornadoes outside of tornado alley are horrific. If the siren goes off this year, I'll be headed to the basement!
I wish we had a basement! Nobody here has basements because the soil makes it nearly impossible. But I think I'd have a concrete safe room built into my next house.
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