Saturday, September 13, 2008

Riding the Storm Out

Well, all is well here at Fort Polk. I say that and the tornado sirens just went off a few minutes ago. ::rolls eyes::

Actually, the tornado sirens have gone off 3 times since last night. 4:00 in the morning and waking up to sirens is not my idea of a good night, but after Sean checking the radar on TV and seeing no meteorologist in sight we went back to sleep and amazingly weren't blown away.

Let me just say this. As a native Oklahoman I've experienced my fair share of storms and tornadoes. I've been very, very scared in many situations and when I was about 12, after a particularly bad storm season, I was convinced I was going to die in a tornado. I'm no rookie when it comes to bad weather. No offense to all Louisiana people, but the tornado watch/warning system in this state sucks. I don't think tornado warnings here and tornado warnings back home mean the same thing. Thus, I've pretty much begun to ignore the sirens around here.

I'm sure hurricanes are much worst in the coastal areas. I never want to experience a hurricane while living on the coast, but honestly? Up here the effects haven't been that bad and I've seen worse storms in Oklahoma. I guess I'm just used to a different type of storm. Again, not knocking hurricanes, I know they cause destruction and damage, but I think tornadoes back home have me a bit more scared than these hurricanes.

We weren't completely unscathed from the storm. Our electricity went out this morning and stayed off about an hour and then went off again later in the day and finally came back on about an hour ago. There are some limbs down and the Fort Polk website says there were some electric poles down, but otherwise it looks like we escaped so far with minimal damage.

I elected not to go to Alexandria today and decided instead to wait until the end of the month and the next payday. Hobby Lobby wouldn't have done too much damage on my account, but I know Forever 21 and the Limited would have. Instead I'm typing up some recipes on MRE's: Not for Me and catching up on some reading. Later tonight for supper Sean is going to make pancakes, sausage, hash browns and eggs. I'm more than ready! Breakfast for supper is one of my favorite things!

I hope all my fellow Louisiana people are all right and I hope the rest of you have a great weekend!


8 comments:

MediMonsters said...

Glad you are ok--we are having periods of heavy rain, very gusty winds and lots of tornado warnings!! The tornadoes off of hurricanes are very different from the tornadoes you know from OK. These are like mini-tornadoes that usually stay above the ground; but occassionally do touch down. Most are also radar-indicated. I "stupidly" signed up for The Weather Channel notifications of severe weather to go to my cell phone--I have gotten soooooooooo many texts since yesterday. Most are tornado warnings.

tootie said...

So glad that you survived the storm ok! Enjoy the breakfast dinner!

Sara said...

tonya is right that the tornados off hurricanes, although smaller, are also more numerous. But to be honest, sitting here in the midst of a disaster zone, tornados scare me more. After sitting through that hurricane, I can say that at least it was predictable. At least we knew what to expect and when. I've sat through only 2 real tornados in my life and those were scarey.

Back in January, I was driving through East Texas to my dad's house in heavy rain and even heavier traffic when all of a sudden the sky went green, and I heard the wind sound like a train coming at us. I almost broke down and cried right then and there because the only "shelter" for miles was a ditch. No city. No buildings. Nothing. Luckily the tornado didn't pass by us, and I could see it in the far off distance, but seeing people stop their cars, get out and run into ditches was pretty effing scarey. Me and the pup were frozen. I have no sense for self preservation clearly.

e said...

im glad you're ok. I just read a terrible article in the globe this morning so i hope riding it out is a good decision! Stay safe

oº˚ Homeschool Mom˚ºo said...

You gave me and idea for supper. I love me some breakfast for supper. Glad to hear yall R ok. Much Love

Jenna said...

Glad to hear you are ok!
As far as work goes it is nice to find an employer who cares enough about its employees to treat them well. That can be hard to find.

Weeksie50 said...

I am super glad you are okay.
Isn't it crazy that we are 656 miles inland and we still felt the effects of the storm here in Oklahoma. We had rain all weekend and 65mph wind gust. Crazy I tell ya.

Linda said...

having lived thru a tornado here in Manhattan, KS this summer, I am entirely grateful for the tornado sirens. They went off the first time about 45 minutes before the tornado hit...this was due to damaging weather (hail storm). This cued me into keeping the weather radio going and turning on the TV. Since the wicked weather started south of Salina, we knew we were in the path, and the long time between first warning and the actual hit was enough for us to gather all the necessary stuff (shoes, extra clothing for the kids, camera, important papers, flashlights, radio, etc). I can't believe how many folks said they didn't have enough warning - because they didn't heed the sirens. One guy sat at his computer (headphones on, blaring music) while the tornado tore his neighbor's house down. It's only when the power went out did he bother to investigate and realized what happened.