Tornado Sirens

Today was a stressful day.

When I woke up this morning, I did not anticipate the days events going the way they did.

Work this morning went as usual, and then it took a very quick turn for the worst! When I arrived back to the gym for our meeting at 11AM, the rain started.

As the rain got heavier, none of us really seemed to notice. Until the sirens went off. Natalie made a good point today about tornado sirens...If you grew up in Kansas, you are probably de-sensitized to the threat of a tornado siren. They go off, and we usually don't think much of it. We usually disregard it. Today was much different. Once the five of us at the gym realized we were actually in the path of one of many storms, we decided it was time to go to our "safe place". That is, until we realized we didn't have one! Our next idea was to drive to my house. It was north, and we have a basement. This seemed perfectly practical! Once the decision was made that we needed to LEAVE the studio in an attempt to find a safer spot, we frantically piled into my car and were off!  Let me add that I was obviously driving and there were 3 (possibly 4) very scared WOMEN in the car. This not only freaked me out, it also severely impaired my driving abilities.

We headed north. This was a good idea...until Mr. Busby announced that the storm was heading straight in the direction of my house. Yikes! So--our only option was to flip around in the middle of 95th street, and drive WEST! So to visualize what was going on, imagine 5 freaked out girls in a car driving in what seemed like a monsoon. Angie had the idea that we should stop at the library. So we did. When we got there, they informed us that they didn't have a basement, but they did have a tv and a stairwell we could sit in. Luckily, at that point, we were far enough west of the storm that we were out of danger. So we sat and waited it out...Waited and continue to worry about our families.

 Mom- be proud!

No place safer than a library to be during a storm.

Once the sun came out and the sky finally cleared, we decided it was time to go home. I drove everyone back to the studio and we went our separate ways. We decided that we it was a very productive meeting. The five of us went back home and finally got a chance to talk to our loved ones, thankfully. I had not had the chance to really talk to Dale. When I did, he let me know that he was STILL in his office on the 34th floor of the high rise. Yep, the storm was moving right in his direction. Apparently they didn't seem to care, as they all sat and looked panoramic window, staring right into the storm's face. Yes, they did eventually go to the first floor, but I think that it was just for lunch, not safety! Luckily, no storm ended up hitting (this area), and everyone is safe and sound.

 An amazing and threatening shot of downtown KC around Noon today.

Dale's building is the center silver highrise on the right. They had a great show!

Last but certainly not least, Marrin definitely knew something was going on. I came home to give her a big hug and here's what I came home to. Who needs a guard dog when you have this to ward off the storm?

Unfortunately, other cities and towns were not as fortunate. We are thankful that we are safe, but we keep those that are the victims of the recent tornadoes in our thoughts and prayers.