M'buti shares with the reader the first time she encountered a severe thunderstorm (complete with tornado).
I don't think I will ever forget the first time I saw a thunderstorm like the one I saw last year.
It was early May of 2002, and a storm cloud formed right overhead. One minute, the sky was blue, with puffy, friendly-looking clouds, and the next, the sky started turning greyer and greyer, and the clouds lowered; and they darkened; and it was soon looking nasty outside. The sky then got a greenish tint to it, and to tell you the truth, it scared me because I never knew the sky could turn such unusual colors. The wind started blowing stiffly, and it only got stronger and stronger. Lightning speared out of the heavy, leaden sky, and the thunder boomed. Suddenly, it got quiet; and then we (my husband and myself) heard this loud, low rumbling sound, like the sound of a train in the distance.
Roberto got a funny look on his face; and then he grabbed me (and Jubaki; he was nearly 3 then), and he quickly ran us down the basement, jumping two steps at a time. I went to ask him what was going on, but he didn't say but one word: "Tornado!"
A few minutes later, the sound of the "train" got louder and louder, and the wind got wilder and wilder. It sounded like it was going to pull our house apart, and it terrified me. Because we were in the basement, huddled underneath the steps, we couldn't see nothing, but it was rather darkened. Just as quickly as it began, the noise ended, and the room seemed to brighten; and the winds stopped. Soon, the storm was over.
Roberto got me my crutches, and he took Jubaki (who was now crying in fright; he was crying out, "Mama! Mama!"; he was scared) into his arms, and we all made our way upstairs, afraid to see what we might "find" upon entering the first floor. To our relief (and amazement), there was no damage to our house, but when we looked out, we saw trees and limbs down in our yard, and Jubaki's swing set had disappeared. There were pieces of paper and parts of God knows what littering our yard; but we otherwise escaped without incident.
I will never forget this tornado as long as I live; and I thank God I was one who lived through it. I had never seen a tornado until a few days after the storm, when the Weather Channel had a program about tornadoes, and it looked like a giant grey snake or a humongous vacuum cleaner hose, sucking up everything in its path, and to see it absolutely terrified me.
To this day, I still can't look at a tornado on tv, and the mere thought of ANY severe weather is enough to turn my insides into gel; as I was one who went through a tornado--and lived to tell about it.
I hope I ~NEVER~ see another tornado as long as I live!! :(
(((karen))) poor m'buti...what a wild adventure she had...severe storms are no fun, just ask me...the classic storm phobic! good, desciptive write...well done! (((HUGS))) and love, karla. :)
