Little dog Toto can fend for himself...
Jun. 1st, 2004 09:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
celticdragonflyI went out this afternoon to let the kids play outside a bit, around 520 ish, and whoa, the sky did NOT look a good color. Sure enough, not 20 minutes later weatherbug started going off with the severe thunderstorm watch, then warnings, and tornado watches. ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
selenite got home before it got bad. There's been a whole series of them, different cells turning into storms in different parts of town, I think we've been following the development of 4 or 5 of them through Weatherbug. It's been making me nervous enough that I haven't eaten dinner.
We stepped out front at one point, before it started raining here, and I really did not like the look of the sky. We've been keeping an ear out for the Weatherbug cheeps, and getting right to the computer to check each one. The best we have for a tornado shelter is the laundry room. I hadselenite stock the diaper bag and put it in there, bring me in the didymos sling from the van, and put some padding in there, a couple of sleeping bags. We did that as a just in case, and continued with what we'd been doing.
Then the Weatherbug cheeped, andselenite was at the computer starting to read tornado warning, and we started hearing something weird we'd never heard before - our best guess is that it was a Saginaw tornado siren. He didn't stay to read the details on the warning at that point. I grabbed Jamie and the sling, he grabbed Maggie, and we hustled in there, with me screaming at Brendan to get OUT of the bathroom NOW and in here with us.
We got Jamie into the sling, the sleeping bags spread out, and sat down.selenite is the man you want on your lifeboat, I tell you that - I was a nervous wreck, he calmly started telling the kids fairy tales. Okay, I was even being calmed, until he got to the part about the big bad wolf huffing and puffing to blow down the brick house. We lost power briefly three times, but each time it came back up quick enough that selenite didn't get up to dig out the emergency light. I could hear hail hitting the house pretty powerfully.
After a couple of stories and a diaper change, it was getting quieter outside, andselenite ventured out to check the weather. It looked like the worst had passed us, and although it's still storming, it's much calmer, so we've come back out for now. There's another storm coming up that may hit us on it's way through, we'll have to see. Nobody's going to bed anytime soon, that's for sure. selenite's doing a window check for hail damage right now, I don't think he'll find anything, but better he be sure.
Looking through the Weatherbug alerts we missed, there was one near enough to here that yeah, that probably was the Saginaw siren going off. There was also a report in Richland Hills, which might have been the same one as close to here, and another in southern Arlington. We will be watching carefully. We are still seeing a LOT of very bright lightning, mostly to the east of us at this point.
Memo: I WANT a battery powered weather radio, and I want it now.selenite was looking for batteries for the radio we have now, and not finding enough. We haven't been able to find a good FM station for weather around here anyway, I'm thinking I want one of the NOAA radios.
selenite has just returned from window patrol. No breakage, but apparently there was some bending - our bedroom windows let water in. Eeek.
selenite got home before it got bad. There's been a whole series of them, different cells turning into storms in different parts of town, I think we've been following the development of 4 or 5 of them through Weatherbug. It's been making me nervous enough that I haven't eaten dinner. We stepped out front at one point, before it started raining here, and I really did not like the look of the sky. We've been keeping an ear out for the Weatherbug cheeps, and getting right to the computer to check each one. The best we have for a tornado shelter is the laundry room. I had
selenite stock the diaper bag and put it in there, bring me in the didymos sling from the van, and put some padding in there, a couple of sleeping bags. We did that as a just in case, and continued with what we'd been doing. Then the Weatherbug cheeped, and
selenite was at the computer starting to read tornado warning, and we started hearing something weird we'd never heard before - our best guess is that it was a Saginaw tornado siren. He didn't stay to read the details on the warning at that point. I grabbed Jamie and the sling, he grabbed Maggie, and we hustled in there, with me screaming at Brendan to get OUT of the bathroom NOW and in here with us. We got Jamie into the sling, the sleeping bags spread out, and sat down.
selenite is the man you want on your lifeboat, I tell you that - I was a nervous wreck, he calmly started telling the kids fairy tales. Okay, I was even being calmed, until he got to the part about the big bad wolf huffing and puffing to blow down the brick house. We lost power briefly three times, but each time it came back up quick enough that selenite didn't get up to dig out the emergency light. I could hear hail hitting the house pretty powerfully. After a couple of stories and a diaper change, it was getting quieter outside, and
selenite ventured out to check the weather. It looked like the worst had passed us, and although it's still storming, it's much calmer, so we've come back out for now. There's another storm coming up that may hit us on it's way through, we'll have to see. Nobody's going to bed anytime soon, that's for sure. selenite's doing a window check for hail damage right now, I don't think he'll find anything, but better he be sure. Looking through the Weatherbug alerts we missed, there was one near enough to here that yeah, that probably was the Saginaw siren going off. There was also a report in Richland Hills, which might have been the same one as close to here, and another in southern Arlington. We will be watching carefully. We are still seeing a LOT of very bright lightning, mostly to the east of us at this point.
Memo: I WANT a battery powered weather radio, and I want it now.
selenite was looking for batteries for the radio we have now, and not finding enough. We haven't been able to find a good FM station for weather around here anyway, I'm thinking I want one of the NOAA radios. selenite has just returned from window patrol. No breakage, but apparently there was some bending - our bedroom windows let water in. Eeek.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2004-06-01 08:10 pm (UTC)There are little handheld versions now for hikers and campers, walkie-talkie sized. I'd like to have one of those for each car. I'm seriously considering getting one for Katie's Girl Scout troop.
Weather!
Date: 2004-06-01 08:24 pm (UTC)Sorry you had such a night.
sleep? what's that?
Date: 2004-06-01 08:31 pm (UTC)Had? They extended the watch until 4 am. We're still having it. Dunno if anybody gets to go to bed tonight.
I am about to get to eat.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-06-01 08:37 pm (UTC)Weatherbugs
Date: 2004-06-01 08:55 pm (UTC)Good luck!
Re: Weatherbugs
Date: 2004-06-01 09:31 pm (UTC)Still and all, I bet Laura understands why I have NO desire to see THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW or any other disaster movie ever again. Why bother when you've been through the real thing?
Re: Weatherbugs
Date: 2004-06-01 10:10 pm (UTC)Agreed, Quakebug would be an excellent idea. Somebody draw that up and submit it to Wired magazine as the future ad they like to stick in occasionally.
The trouble with these severe thunderstorms/tornado watches is they're happening so OFTEN right now.
Re: Weatherbugs
Date: 2004-06-02 09:02 am (UTC)The USA does not have any of these, of course.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-06-02 03:52 am (UTC)Im starting to get a tupperwear box tgether, with canned food, water, etc to set downstairs.. I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off this weekend while it was stormin bad outside.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-06-02 04:12 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-06-02 10:45 am (UTC)Okay, maybe we get Nor'Easters up here, but, hey. Snow. The people up here deal with snow pretty well. No earthquakes to speak of (sometimes the earth judders upwards a little from where glaciers squished it a while back), no tornados, and far enough inland that they're not hurricanes by the time they show up.
Meep.
Weather preparedness
Date: 2004-06-02 06:46 pm (UTC)Re: Weather preparedness
Date: 2004-06-03 09:16 am (UTC)We had an emergency supply cache at the old place. Need to redo it here sometime - but it takes up a cut of budget.
Currently looking into a NOAA emergency radio and some of those plug-in emergency flashlights. Had a HORRIBLE vision last night of the tornado siren going off in the middle of the night and finding the power had gone out and trying to FIND and scoop up all the kids in pitch darkness to take them downstairs to what passes for our shelter. Gak. Karl put the push-on light we use as a nighttime diaper changing light on the corner of the dresser for easy grabbing, just in case.
But, all that, too, takes up slices of budget.