Fun with Wind and Rain

AKA Tornado Warnings


Last night, they were calling for the possibility of "inclement weather," meaning strong thunderstorms and maybe tornadoes. We ignored this like we usually do (I guess that means we've lived in Kansas a while), since most times nothing ever happens. We went to bed, thinking Hayes would wake us up to eat in 45 minutes to an hour or so. Well, instead we were woken up by our neighbors calling at 1 AM to leave a message saying there was a tornado warning issued and they were leaving their front door unlocked (bless them--they have a basement!). I first wondered in my foggy, still sleepy state why the weather radio did not go off.... still not sure about that. Then, I wondered, what the heck I should get ready for the baby? I did pretty well considering being half asleep, as I grabbed formula and bottles and diapers, etc. As I was gathering a few things in the kitchen, I heard a large thud on the back patio---it was the grill blowing over. Then, the power went out. The wind was really starting to pick up and the rain started howling down outside--the perfect time for us to dash next door, right? Well, I ventured out first and Kyle came after with the baby. As I opened the door, it was almost ripped out of my hands and I thought, "holy crap---this is really scary!" I made a run for it and felt like I was in a movie where the actor is straining, bending forward against the wind and still gets whipped side to side on her feet, almost falling over several times. I arrived next door completely soaked in my fleece robe followed by Kyle, who overshot the front porch stoop by a few steps because of the wind and banged up his shin in the process. We made it, though, and rushed down to the recesses of Ken and Carol's basement. (My robe proceeded to drip water into a huge puddle and I had to swear that I didn't pee myself!) We stayed down there for 20 minutes or so and then waited a little longer upstairs for the rain to slacken and for the tornado warning to expire. Hayes slept for most of this, only waking to tell us he was hungry. What a good little guy!


We came back home and went back to bed, though it took a few minutes to fall asleep due to the adrenaline still pumping. Then, this morning, we ventured out to see what damage was done. We're still not sure if any tornadoes touched down in Lawrence, but we do know that there were 80 mile an hour straight line winds----that's what Kyle and I ventured out in---how smart are we? Anyways, there wasn't much in the way of damage at our house, only a few shingles in the grass (I don't think from our roof), and chairs and grills blown over as well as plants looking a little worse for wear. One neighbor had some concrete siding ripped off. Ken and Carol had an arbor in their backyard blow over---and it was anchored in the ground in concrete! Across the street, a wooden swing set was blown over. The best picture I got is of our neighbor's (across the street) trampoline crumpled up TWO yards over from its original location. The funny thing is, it had to jump OVER a privacy fence to end up where it did!

Our house and yard:

Our neighbors':







I'm questioning whose bright idea it was to move to Kansas...