May 19, 2010, McKinney, Texas~
Hey! Rat-Nose here. I am doing okay; however, I can't say how I will be later on today. Today we might be getting some weather, and I am not happy about the possibilities of what it may do once it gets cranking.
According to www.noaa.gov, we may be getting hail up to the size of baseballs (or possibly even larger!), tornadoes, damaging downburst winds, flooding rains, and severe, frequent lightning strikes. That doesn't sound very good, especially since I've already been in too many tornadoes to count, as well as some major hailstorms and windstorms. Not a good thing to go through, especially since there are no shelters here.
The worst weather is supposed to be north of here, but still, we're on the edge, in the slight area. The areas along the Red River (and into Oklahoma) are in a moderate risk. That offers very little in the way of comfort because even though the roughest weather is supposed to stay north, it doesn't offer us much hope because we could still get pounded with severe weather.
If it "comes up a cloud", we have to go to an interior room, away from any windows, cover yourself with a mattress and blankets, and cover your head; if you are outdoors, we have to hunker down into a ditch, cover our heads with our arms, and pray that we don't get swept away by the strong winds. We have a bathtub, but it's upstairs; so we have to hide in the interior room downstairs; it's the safest spot in our house.
They say the bad weather will more likely be this afternoon after three p.m. and go on through a good chunk of tonight; then by tomorrow afternoon, it should finally move east of here. I have a feeling I won't be sleeping much tonight, especially if the tornado sirens start their wailsong!
I just pray we get through this in one piece, without too much in the way of damage; I don't like storms; this is one of the reasons why. You would think that, as a native Texan, I would be used to little minor inconveniences like tornadoes, large hail, or damaging winds. Not on your life!
I had a cousin who died in a tornado five years ago (he was twelve, just a little older than me by a few months), and we also had damage to our house when I was five and again at ten. I will never forget the sound of the howling winds and praying to God to keep the house standing; however, once you hear the walls give away, that does something to you; it stays with you for the rest of your life.
If I could, I'd move to Alaska, where the only storms are magnetic (i.e., the northern lights)!! They have very few thunderstorms there, and when they do, they're usually not severe. Oh, they have had tornadoes, but only two: both tornadoes struck the town of Bethel.
Remind me not to move to Bethel, Alaska, if we decide to go there to live!
Well, I gotta go: time to go to my next class. Pray we don't have too many weather problems; I would greatly appreciate it! God bless and think of us as we face the storms that are due to come later today! Pray we don't have any huge issues with the weather!!
And pray that I get to move to Alaska!!
~Rat-Nose. :(
