I heard the Hortonville tornado.
For those of you reading this who are not in this area, a couple of nights ago the area where I live was hit with five tornadoes — two close to me, one close enough for me to hear, probably a mile away, maybe a little closer. Even though the damage my property sustained was very small, I drove through the hardest-hit areas and saw the worst of the damage. And I learned some valuable lessons from this experience.
1. We rely far too much on our gadgets and on “experts” to tell us what to think.
I knew I heard something unique, something that sounded, to me, like a constant rumble of thunder. But I wanted confirmation in case it was in fact a tornado, because it sort of also sounded like a train, like they say it does. So I checked the radar on my phone and I saw nothing to indicate a tornado. There were no tornado warnings issued, not even a tornado watch. So it couldn’t be a tornado, right? The “experts” would know it was coming, right?
But it was.
I didn’t trust what my own ears were telling me, because the “experts” didn’t tell me I should. How foolish. We can’t forget to use our heads and think for ourselves.
2. Trust your instincts, not your rationalizations.
My instincts were telling me to get down to the basement. My mind was telling me it couldn’t possibly be a tornado, not here, not without warning. As it turned out, I half listened to myself. I was dressed, I had shoes on, and if I heard the sound get any closer, I was going to wake up my son and get down to the basement. The sound didn’t get louder, but eventually faded away, so I never did wake him.
3. My plan was foolish, for several reasons.
The storm was moving as fast as 70 miles an hour. If the tornado had been headed my way, I would have had mere seconds to react, and it would have been too late. We wouldn’t have made it to the basement in any case.
In my doubt, I had hesitated too long.
4. I was not prepared.
I realized later that the place in the basement where we should go was full of clutter and we couldn’t even have gotten in there anyway (a closet under the basement stairs inside a finished room). I also realized that there were heavy things on the top shelf of this closet that could come crashing down on our heads.
I had previously thought through a tornado scenario (a tornado on its way with a couple of minutes’ warning) and I had decided that I would make sure we had shoes (for walking through debris), that I would grab my purse, and my laptop (which is my livelihood). But in this situation with no warning, my only thought was to get my son down to the basement. I never thought of saving anything else (except the cat too, of course).
5. I am glad to live in a community where people help out each other.
I saw many people helping many others out in Hortonville. I told my son we should put work gloves on and help haul branches. He quickly reminded me that I had recently pulled some back muscles hauling some heavy items and that I would probably last two seconds. He was right, I realized. I guess it’s the thought that counts.
I would like to say that I will never forget that sound. But I’m already forgetting it. What I can say is that if I ever hear a sound like that again, I won’t doubt it and I won’t second-guess myself. I would rather be in the basement safe from a rumble of thunder than find myself caught in a tornado because I hesitated.
Never again. This was too close for comfort.
6. Regard…and respect…the capricious and unpredictable power of nature. Despite all our best efforts and all our technology, it still has the last word.
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important post. thanks for sharing.
That was an intense storm. Unfortunately I think it’s a very common instinct to hesitate because we think “Why would a tornado happen to me?”