From: stormreaver
Written: 2010-09-03 15:42:46.142829
Subject: Tornado
Written: 2010-09-03 15:42:46.142829
Subject: Tornado
My wife and I were watching a TV show on DVD last night, when I heard a high-pitch whine of some sort coming from outside. Perking my ears like a dog, I tried to identify the somehow familiar yet puzzling noise. In a few seconds, I heard myself say, almost unconsciously, "Is that a tornado siren?"
I paused the DVD so I could listen more closely. A few seconds of silence passed, so I mentally shrugged and moved to unpause the show. The moment my finger hovered over the Play button, I clearly heard the high-pitch whine of the city tornado sirens in the near distance. For a fraction of a second, I thought, "The forecast called for heavy rain and gusty winds, but that's it." I very much wanted to believe that I had not really heard what I knew I just heard. But my wishful thinking lasted only a few seconds.
The siren got louder as it rotated back in our direction, so I jumped out of bed and onto my computer, started Firefox, and looked at weather radar. Sure enough, there was a severe-looking line of storms moving through. The line was moving so fast, though, that it seemed to have already passed by our house. With great relief, I turned the TV to the live weather broadcast to confirm my interpretation of the radar line. The meteorologists were talking about how fast the storms were moving, and telling people who were in the path of the storms to take shelter. Fortunately for my wife and me, we were already out of the danger zone. We watched the storm coverage for a few more minutes, just to soothe our rattled nerves.
That was our excitement for the evening. We then finished our DVD.
I paused the DVD so I could listen more closely. A few seconds of silence passed, so I mentally shrugged and moved to unpause the show. The moment my finger hovered over the Play button, I clearly heard the high-pitch whine of the city tornado sirens in the near distance. For a fraction of a second, I thought, "The forecast called for heavy rain and gusty winds, but that's it." I very much wanted to believe that I had not really heard what I knew I just heard. But my wishful thinking lasted only a few seconds.
The siren got louder as it rotated back in our direction, so I jumped out of bed and onto my computer, started Firefox, and looked at weather radar. Sure enough, there was a severe-looking line of storms moving through. The line was moving so fast, though, that it seemed to have already passed by our house. With great relief, I turned the TV to the live weather broadcast to confirm my interpretation of the radar line. The meteorologists were talking about how fast the storms were moving, and telling people who were in the path of the storms to take shelter. Fortunately for my wife and me, we were already out of the danger zone. We watched the storm coverage for a few more minutes, just to soothe our rattled nerves.
That was our excitement for the evening. We then finished our DVD.