Severe Weather Season is Upon Us

As I write this post, I sit listening to the sound of tornado sirens outside. I was in class learning about parabolas or something when the first sirens went off. That was around 6:30 p.m. Then the sirens went off a second time. Word from a girl in my class - who was checking radar on her phone and not listening to the logarithms lecture - was the tornado was near 168th and Fort...aka 13 blocks from our house. I sneak a text message to my dad and Trevor and my dad's response was "hide" and Trevor's was "we are in a bad area. Do not drive home." Because everyone is preoccupied and not paying attention to the whiteboard, our professor finally gives us a break. (I should state our classroom is a designated tornado shelter so we were not in danger.) Eight total tornado sirens later, class is dismissed. It appeared clear outside - relatively speaking - so I decided to make a run for it and head home. Needless to say I was SOAKED after the quick jaunt to my car.


This is not the first area tornado of the year. Just Sunday at 2:30 a.m. a tornado touched down in Southwest Omaha, damaging numerous homes and businesses. Fortunately and amazingly, there were no fatalities. The sirens went off AFTER the tornado touched down, and being that it was the middle of the night no one heard them. (I did because I was still up.) Trevor actually had his crew help out with tornado clean-up Monday because his jobsite was too muddy to work, which I thought was very cool and a great idea on his behalf. And, he was actually interviewed by KFMB-AM. Too bad I wasn't able to arm him with talking points and a little media training beforehand, but everyone who heard him said he did a great job :).

I love storms. I do. Blizzards. Thunderstorms. Whatever. I think I like them because - except for this week - they are rare and a change from the normal. But I forget the threats associated with them. I drove home from Kansas City this afternoon, arriving in Omaha around 5:30. The reason I left KC so early was because I had class tonight - otherwise I'd be driving in the heart of the storm. Thankfully, I and my friends and family members are safe tonight. But unfortunately, this evening's storm doesn't come without sad news. A Boy Scout camp in Little Sioux was apparently hit and at this time four fatalities are reported, with 30-50 injuries. My heart goes out to those with sons, brothers, husbands, dads and other friends and family members there.