May 3, 2010

  • Is There Anything Worse Than Waiting?


    TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

    Today there was nothing but blah, blah, blah on TV about tornadoes and being on a "Watch" for them.  *Turn on your Weather Radio!* *Be alert!*  The day was dark and dismal but, get this, hardly any rain falling here.

    I watched the Weather Channel last night and saw all the radar images and heard how the storm was slowly, slowly heading our way, meaning our little corner of the state.  Most of the really bad weather seems like it is hitting poor Tennessee.  It has me worried for my son up there.

    But, here's the kicker.  They kept telling us that we could get as much as two inches of rain an hour!  That's a hell of a lot of rain coming down.  As I look outside, there is nothing like that going on here.  YET!    You got it: the updates are that our alert has been extended yet another time.  *Sigh*

    I hate this dismal landscape and I hate feeling both frustrated and worried.  They had interviews with people that live here locally and they talked about their ordeals and how surprised they were to have lived through it all.  Their homes were either badly damaged or decimated.  One woman watched her husband being pulled out of the house just as he was trying to enter the closet and she and her children took refuge in.  The husband didn't suffer any injury!   I know!  They felt that God had been watching over them all.

    There are a lot of grateful people here.  Sixty homes were completely destroyed and 300 are badly damaged.  That's just the home count.  There are also many damaged businesses but most were closed when the tornado hit. The amazing thing is that no one was killed here in our town.  There were two deaths, but they were in other towns that were hit by this past tornado.  The swathe it cut was 18 miles long and almost 3/4 of a mile wide.  If we didn't have so many open areas due to farms and ranches, it could have been more devastating.  It didn't miss us by much so I count us lucky.

    So, here I am, just waiting.  Waiting for the rain.  Waiting for the wind.  Waiting to see if the Weather Radio goes off in alarm due to a tornado being seen here in our area.  I just hate waiting.

    Love you all and I hope you are spared this bad weather.  I hope you get lots of sun and gentle breezes.  Get your butt outside and have some fun!!!