Throughout the summer months it is almost guaranteed that one time or another we will have thunder. With that thunder usually comes lightning and the possibility of a tornado.
I am not a fan of thunderstorms, nor do I like lightning, and the chance of getting a tornado really scares me. We have lived close to where a tornado hit, and it is not something I ever want to see again.
As a child, during the night when a thunderstorm came around, my mom woke us up. We would have to get fully dressed, including shoes, and stay in the living room. There were times that the house would shake from the loud cracks of thunder, and I was terrified.
The oil lamps came out and were placed on the table. Mom always had a healthy supply of candles, and they, too, came out of their hiding place to be ready if the power went out.
Around the age of 13, our house was hit by lightning. I will never forget the incredible noise it made, and how the sparks flew from the power box on the side of the house. It was this storm that got my dad out of bed, it was so loud.
Another time, when I was 16 years old, the lightning was so bright that our yard light went off. The lightning crackled across the sky non-stop, and the following day, we found that our neighbour’s horse had been struck by one of those bolts, splitting a tree down the middle.
After I got married, we had two major storms that created tornadoes, and we were part of the cleanup crew. It is something I will never forget, and I can tell you; it is something a person does not want to experience.
Over the past couple of weeks, we have seen more of these unpredictable storms. Living in town, it is hard to see the clouds roll in until they are on top of us. Nonetheless they still scare me, although I am getting better.
The last two storms had us walking from window to window following the clouds that were swirling above us. It is also a time that our dogs stay close to our sides, as they dislike the storms as well.
We do not have a basement, but we do have a plan. We each have a pet that we are responsible for and what we are to take in case the need arises for us to take shelter quickly.
As my husband watched out the back door and me out the front door, a crack of thunder and a bolt of lightning had me jumping out of my skin. I went quickly to the back door, cleaning my glasses and not really paying attention and walked right into my husband, breaking my glasses.
I could not be without my glasses, but I could see the larger-than-life flashes going across the sky. Once the storm subsided, the arm on my glasses was hot glued so I could wear them until I could get them fixed.
On Friday, July 25, we had another storm roll through. This one had me scared as our phone sent out an alert that we were in a tornado warning. Neighbours to the west and north have already seen hail and this is another issue we do not want to see.
Hail destroys so many things depending on the size. Farmers lose their crops, vehicles end up with dents, my garden will be ruined, and many animals have no place to go.
Luckily, this storm did not produce any damaging winds, no destructive hail, and the tornados stayed away. Let us hope that our summer continues without any major devasting storms and that our plan for shelter is never needed. Do you have a plan in place?
