Whew! That Was A Close One!

About 11:15am this morning, the tornado sirens went off downtown. Those of us facing the South had been watching the dark clouds gathering for some time, so it wasn't really a surprise. Our building was evacuated down into the lowest level of the parking garage -- something no one could recall doing before, even people who had worked there for 20+ years -- where we waited for almost two hours before being given the all-clear to head back up. Fortunately, we had access to cellphones and car radios, so we were largely able to keep in touch. I wasn't really that concerned, given that we were in the equivalent of a giant underground bunker.

The tornadoes passed right over downtown, jumped the river, and headed straight toward our home. Fortunately, they were hopping up and down, and didn't touch down near us. I didn't get any pics from today, but here's one from yesterday with a similar feel to it.


My sister-in-law took these pictures today, I assume coming up from the South side of KC.



I'm thinking that Mr. Camping would have sounded a lot more reasonable if he'd predicted the end of the world today rather than last Saturday (at least to those of us in KC), but I guess we'll see if more tornadoes blow through in October, huh? I would certainly call the visuals apocalyptic, anyway!

Lindsey and Hadley were in the basement at home for quite a while, too, but fortunately there wasn't any major trouble or damage on the home front. We got an e-mail from one of the big kids' teachers mid-afternoon, so we were all accounted for and healthy.

Our part of town apparently escaped with just minor damage, though other cities in the area were hit pretty hard. Not as hard as Joplin, but still a tragic amount of death and destruction. From what I'm seeing, we're now past the worst of the storm systems here, though the danger is still great for other places, and more rain is expected here for a couple days.

I think the strangest part of all this is that by the time I sat back down at my desk, I was staring at a clear blue sky filled with bright sunshine. It's shocking how quickly such destruction can be rained down, and then disappear again. It's freakish, if you ask me. Regardless, we're safe and whole, and very blessed.

Whew!