We had a tornado warning today

I was on my way home from work and I hear this weird automaton voice over a loudspeaker. I sort of panicked at that point, having never heard that before and had no idea what it was. It was a recorded message playing over the tornado sirens, saying that a tornado was reported in the area and to take shelter immediately. I couldn't understand it, and sort of freaked out thinking it was a riot or shooting or who knows what (really, those are possible scenarios here).

Then I came inside and turned on the news... and then the familiar tornado sirens went off, and I saw the big flashing message on the screen.

I checked out the windows to make sure I couldn't see one, grabbed Zissou, and we sat in the bathtub.

And of course I started crying because I was scared. I do okay with tornadoes... but I don't like being alone for it, and it was so sudden like that, and I was panicked from that weird voice. So I was sitting in the bathtub crying and Zissou was MAD because I wouldn't let her go, or out of the bathroom.

It was pretty awful.

I felt really bad for the homeless man who goes through the dumpster every evening. He just kept going, because he didn't have anywhere else to go.

Anyway, I don't think there was any damage here and I don't know if there was even a tornado rather than a funnel cloud, but I about peed myself.

I miss Cleveland.

Oh no, take care!!!

I've never been at risk of any natural disaster, so have no idea what to do in that situation. I'd be crying too....

Hope everything turns out fine!

Well, I wouldn't like to be alone at that time either!! The first time I visited Tennessee, there were quite a few tornado sirens & the TV does it's Emergency Alert thing...and I was on the upstairs balcony looking for a storm, and the wind came up, not bad at all, maybe 50mph at most, and PIECES OF A MOBILE HOME went flying by.....and then, oh, how I wish that I was in an area of strict building codes (our winds often exceed 100 mph and nothing gets damaged). And two trees uprooted cuz it rains so much that the roots were shallow - YIKES! gimme a good ol' 6.0 earthquake anyday...

awr you poor thing, you must have been so scared!

I haven't been in any natural disaster (touchwood) apart from a tiny earthquake which I slept through
I would probably be crying like crazy if that was happening to me. And I'd be crying even more if Tab was outside and I couldn't find her

Good to hear there wasn't one after all

Thanks for the support!

I feel better today, although it hasn't really stopped sort-of storming since yesterday. I guess there was some weird-shaped cloud over downtown and since so many people were reporting a tornado they turned on the sirens even the National Weather Service couldn't find anything.

I've been in a few tornadoes, none hit my house, but less than a mile away.

I was thinking of everyone in the path of Ernesto, and what it would be like to have that sort of feeling go on for hours. No fun, no fun at all.

Catsknowme, that would be terrifying. I was never allowed to be looking out the window at anything like that, but I remember the aftermath, with the pieces of straw gone straight through telephone poles and toys from a neighbor across the street's and down four houses pool in the side yard... it's nutty. I'm way more scared of earthquakes though! I think we're more scared of what we're not used to, you know?

I would be totally terrified.

Give me the snow and colder weather for 3-4 months per year.

Ugh! I get freaked out when we have tornado warnings! I never thought about the homeless people having no where to go...

Yea, this particular homeless man seems pretty harmless. I felt sad, I saw him just sort of look up at the sky, shrug, and go right back to whatever he was looking for in there. If he saw a tornado I imagine he'd have done something. There's sort of an enclosed stairwell to the basement in the lot nextdoor behind a vacant building that wouldn't be a bad place in a tornado unless it flooded. He sleeps on the corner unless the cops kick him out. There's several other semi-homeless people who are total methheads around and some of them were screaming at the sirens. That was weird.

But there aren't many public tornado shelters around. I've thought about that before, about what happens when people who are already displaced suffer a natural disaster.

Awww i'm soo sorry sweetie! i know what it's like....we have tornados all of the time in the South. I'm glad you and Zissou are safe and sound . The worst tornado i've ever been through happened when I was visiting my cousin and her family in Oklahoma- She lives in Noble,Oklahoma...only a few minutes down the road from Moore, Ok- the city that was completly wiped out a few years ago by an F5 tornado- the strongest and most destructive on the Fujita scale and one of the worst tornados in recorded history. May 3,1999- i will never forget that day....It was aweful you could hear everything even in the shelter (Moore,Ok later got hit back in 2003 by an F4 tornado. I was there during the F5 in 1999)....we all hid in the shelter of a tiny church on their steet.(her entire neighborhood because none of them had tornado shelters)We hid in the church's tornado shelter for hours. Thankfully it wasn't hit. However, Moore lost everything. We went and helped a lot of the survivors afterwards. It was soo sad to see an entire town almost gone..It really made me greatful just to be alive and have my family. I am soo glad you didn't have to go through this. Those sirens can be quite scarry- i defnitely agree with you on that one. Ever since i went through that other tornado- i'm very cautions whne i hear sirens now- I always have all my furbabies in their carriers and all of our emergenct kits ready. I'm soo glad you and Zissou are ok



here are links to some of the pictures/stories on Moore,OK
http://www.weather.com/newscenter/sp...may3_1999.html

http://www.stormgasm.com/5-8-03/5-8-03.htm

I'm in the Cleveland area....where are you??? So glad it all turned out ok!