Tornado Season is Upon Us
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Springtime in Pennsylvania is welcomed with open arms in Pennsylvania as crocuses peak from the dirt and bright daffodils bloom across the countryside wherever bulbs took root. Robins alight on budding branches and geese honk enthusiastic greetings in the sky.
The long winter wanes, yet sends its protestation by breathing cold reminders on heels of balmy 60 degree days. What threatens the inhabitants is screaming sirens in small towns and hurried texts messages to those of us who took time to sign up for severe weather alerts. At approximately 6:00 p.m. Sunday afternoon I received such a text blaring on my mobile device to take cover soon because a tornado warning was issued. At the local fire station the haunting siren sounded loud and clear: take cover.
Hastily, I crated my cat, Newt, and plucked Sammy the cockatiel from his stand and hurried them to the safety of our dimly lit, cool basement to watch the path of a tornado accompanied by thunder, lightning and hail. My son, Ben, invited the neighbor in our shared duplex the refuge afforded in our portion of the house's basement since he doesn't have his own access.
We stood outdoors on the lawn and studied the clouds erupting with lightning until the rain poured from the sky and hail began to pelt the vehicles we own.
We sat in the livingroom visiting and speculating if the worst would hit or we might lose electricity as we monitored sky and mobile devices.
Lucky for us there was no funnel cloud in site and the worst of the tornado touched down in Franklin Pennsylvania and other Pennsylvania towns and counties. Franklin was hit by a tornado which leveled some homes and left a wake of twisted metal and debris. McKean had serious hail stones riddling house siding which left them resembling swiss cheese one Facebook photographer reported.
This is a common Spring event and I've witnessed numerous twisters and a microburst once leveled a lot of trees around the neighborhood including two which flanked both sides of our driveway several years back dropping electrical wires taking five days to repair and to restore power.
I am thankful we were spared last night and our power never flickered and I feel empathy for all who suffered loss of property or home.
It is fortunate that this apartment has a basement and I have rental insurance should another tornado decide to target this area before the swiftly changing temperatures create another severe weather situation.
What do you do to prepare for a common natural weather crisis? We stock flashlights and water and charge mobile devices when we receive alerts whenever possible. Planning ahead can make these events tolerable. Many of the neighbors own generators having lived in the area long enough if they are fortunate enough to afford such conveniences. These items are costly but can save hours in the dark and prevent food spoilage.
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Wow I can't even imagine what a tornado must be like, we don't get them here in South Africa, worst we have is really strong winds that can knock you down if you're not careful. doomsday prepping and all, sounds like you're in some kind of movie, must be really crazy times im sure
It can be frightening and sometimes devastating. We take warnings seriously and people without basements are encouraged to seek one nearby. If that is not an option, a ditch to lay in is advised but it's frightening to be near one. I've seen a couple and one went by our house once very close when I was a teenager.
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I had a dream about tornadoes last night!!
I've never been in one before, but my partner was talking about a warning the other night and he and his family needed to go down to the basement for a while, and I'm fairly certain that's what spurred on my dream. But I was hugging a dog and trying to carry it home, then there was a tornado in the distance and I was all, "eek, that's close! hurry home faster!" and next thing I knew, there was this writhing cloud directly above me and twenty tornadoes coming down from it, towards me and my puppy.
Snapped awake. Haha.
We have cyclones, bushfires, and floods here, and we're raised to be survivalists. At least we used to be. Not sure how people are raised these days. When I was younger we had a kit of torches, candles, gas cans, a little portable bbq, a first aid kit, little radio, blankets, and we always had enough canned food. I don't recall ever needing these little survival kits though. If we move further north though, which my partner and I want to do, those little survival kits will be necessary.
What a dream @kaelci! I'm happy it was just that. I feel for the folks who experienced the brunt of the storm. We have been lucky that nothing horrible visited our dwellings apart from power cable losses or trees. Thank you for sharing and for the prompt. Hugs!
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I didn't know Pennsylvania was prone to tornadoes! We experienced our share of tornado watches and warnings while we lived in Minnesota, but no tornado ever came near where we lived. However, we did get a straight line wind that took down hundreds of trees in its path. Big mess!
Wow, that sounds like a terrible mess indeed. I've witnessed more tornadoes and their paths than I care to recall. Glad you have missed out on all that. @scribblingramma
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So good to hear you were afe and power remained, we had a pretty strong pass through this morning on the train and all our phones went off with a tornado watch luckily none happened but it was unerving for many on the train thinking being on a train for a potential tornado was not a good thing to do
Luckily they are rare here, I do fele for those in the tornado belts
Do you work on a train? @tattoodjay. Jeff and my father both worked on trains.
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No WellI often do work related emails and such on the train, but i am just one of the thousands of commuters on the train in and out of NYC every day
Ahhh @@@tattoodjay, I forgot about commuting there! Thanks for responding.
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NO worries I do mention the trains so often its a naturally thought, I spend about half of the time I spend working on the train to and from work LOL
Haha! Well, you are well acquainted then to the ways of a train. I've yet to ride even one.
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Ohh yes I have done many hours on trains enough to be considered experienced I guess, you need to do at least one train trip sometime its in your blood ;)
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