Too Close For Comfort

This past Thursday there was a tornado that passed through our neighborhood. Although it was a small one (EF-1), it did cause an amazing amount of damage.

Thursday evening we were at Megan's swim meet at the pool we belong to, which is in the next town over (Downers Grove). The swim team knew a heavy storm was coming so we were trying to get in at least 1/2 of the swim meet so it would not have to be rescheduled.

As the storm grew closer the swim meet was stopped, getting in a little over 1/2 of it. When we were walking to the car the Tornado sirens started going off. We got home in just a few minutes and got the babysitter home (a couple houses away). Anna and Ethan were asleep so we let them sleep while we kept an eye on the weather.

Usually I am rather afraid when it comes to storms, although I try my hardest to hide this from my children! This time when the sirens were actually going off - I wasn't really afraid...at all.

Maybe it was the fact my husband was actually with me this time (he's usually at work), or maybe because I was too busy trying to keep Megan calm. She was crying and very scared.

The next I was driving Megan to swim team practice and I saw a lot of down trees, tree's uprooted, light posts leaning over, etc. I was actually shocked at the amount of damage I saw. I felt very naive thinking that the storm passed with just a lot of rain and wind!

I spoke to my neighbors the next day also who said they had taken shelter in a large closet under their stairs. They asked what we did and we said nothing...hung out in the back room with my in-laws while Rob made pizza.

Apparently the tornado was rain wrapped, which apparently makes it not visible. Next time we get these types of warnings, I will take it more seriously and move everyone to safety.