Tornadoes, power outages, and hail, the great equalizer

Early yesterday afternoon, I was snoozing on my couch in the office while trying to watch the basketball game.  I was awakened by a noise on the TV and outside.  The  TV was showing my county was under a tornado warning, and the sirens outside seemed to confirm it.  I turned to a local channel and saw the tornado was coming from the southwest, so I took a photo of the sky before I headed to the basement.  You can see the rain was just starting when I took this photo.

Now I realize most times trying to round up a cat is like herding fish.  But when it comes to bad weather, Bleubeard has more sense than I have.  He hides under low hanging furniture in the dining area, or tries to head for the basement, which is always closed off to him.

That was not the case yesterday.  The tornado looked like it was headed right toward my area of town.  While I went into my basement studio, Bleubeard chose to sit on the chair in the hallway shown holding the art print.  He was actually safer than I because there were two walls on all sides between him and the outside, which was where he felt the safest.

The tornado passed over us, or went around us, I'm not sure which.  But I kept hearing all the noises from the hail that hit the roof.  And that was scary since I was in a basement below ground.

After the rain and hail had stopped, I went outside to check my herbs.  Not as bad as I anticipated, but still some damage.

The area between my and my neighbor's driveway was under water, too.  He had parked his new truck under my tree in my driveway and it was now covered with leaves and debris.

So was my porch and steps.  It was too wet to sweep the debris away, so I will do that today.

Luckily, to my knowledge, no one was killed in Wichita, although we had a power outage long enough every electric clock and VCR (have I not mentioned I'm still OLD SCHOOL?) had to be reset.

The disadvantage of living in Tornado Alley means spring tornadoes, power outages, and hail, the great equalizer.  I hope your Sunday was less stressful and far safer.