28 February 2011

natural disasters

last night was my second tornado scare since my return to the midwest (the first was a novelty as i was but a visitor in my then-boyfriend's new house), and lemme just tell you about tornado scares.

they start with a flashing color-coded weather map in the bottom left corner of whatever's on the television. last night's codes were: pink for severe thunderstorms (my fave!), green for tornado watch, and red for tornado warning (the latter means a tornado has been spotted in the red zone). last night, my town was in red.

and then the blaring sirens that go on and on and on until the tornado knocks its ass over or moves along to the next green gone red zone.

and last night whilst my fiance fell soundly asleep to the oh-so-soothing sound of that siren, i texted his brother to find out if we should spend the night in the basement. his nonchalant, "eh, just wait it out" response did nothing to ease my terror. so there i laid, sweating, terrified, and longing for the foregone days of life along the ole san andreas fault.

cuz even though earthquakes can be big, scary, damaging, and deadly, they come without a warning. and i've just learned that the element of surprise is a way better natural disaster than lying in wait for its imminent attack.

~k