Tornado Warning!!!

Yesterday afternoon it was storming outside so I was quietly inside watching TV. The emergency alert broke into the show to say that people in the New Haven area had a tornado warning. I called Dave to ask his how far away that was and did I need to worry. He said that it was about 40 minutes away and we were fine. He said to only worry if they posted a report for the Hartford area. So I continued to watch my show. About 20 minutes later the emergency alert broke in again to say that everyone in the Hartford area had a tornado warning. They said to take cover and go down into a basement area. What? We are on the 3rd floor. So I called Dave and he wasn't sure what to do. He said we should be fine because they hadn't sounded the sirens for a tornado and at his work they weren't going down to the shelter yet. (Did anyone else catch on that his work has a tornado shelter. Is this a tornado area?) So after I got off the phone I called my Mom for a second opinion. She came up with the idea of going to the indoor basketball area. It is low, has only little window, and the walls are thick and strong. Ashton was asleep. I didn't want to wake her so I decided to wait. About 3 minutes later lighting lit up our world and the power went out. Craig and I were in the living room together and we both jumped about ten feet (I hate it when lighting and thunder come almost at the same time and is soooo loud and the building shakes!) and then looked at each other totally startled. I think we had the deer in the headlights look. I decided right then to grab the kids and head for the basketball court. We quickly threw on jackets and flip flops, grabbed one basket ball, 4 water bottles, Nathan's medicine/snacks, and my purse. The walk there is short but was crazy.

Once we got there the boys went to play basketball and I sat in the library watching the weather. Within just a few minutes the storm got even worse and area looked crazy. I have never seen a storm like this in my life. Wind blowing everywhere. Rain and hail coming down so hard you couldn't even see through it. When it was over we went back to the house. We had areas in our complex that were flooded. Pool side table and chairs blown over. It looked pretty intense.

I later watched the news and there was not a tornado just a really bad storm that knocked down trees and power lines in the area. A few building also had some damage. I can't tell if I was being the nervous nelly in a new area. You know the type who move to California and run around screaming in a 2.0 earthquake while everyone else just sits there reading a book and relaxing. The only part that makes me feel better is that they did tell us to take cover and get inside basements. Also do you ever take a chance with your kids?

My one regret is that I didn't grab my camera. It would have been some awesome picture. I did have to laugh at what I grabbed as we hurried out of the apartment. My purse, water (in case we were stuck out there and couldn't come back to our place for a while), Nathan's medicine/snacks, and something to entertain the kids so they wouldn't be scared. Have you ever seen the movie Leap Year. In it they ask the question if there was a fire what would take? Well I guess I now know what I would take.