First, Saturday night I stayed up until 12:30am listening to the tornado sirens go on & off while Shane slept comfortably in our bed. I had wondered if I should wake him up & head down to the basement or should I stay close to the TV?! Needless to say, I stayed by the TV & listened for confirmation of a "touchdown" of a tornado in Spring Hill while letting Shane sleep. A decision I would get fussed at for later by my husband :(Then Sunday evening the horrible devastation occurred in Joplin, MO from an E5 tornado. Even though the town is located 2 hours south of us, it was a bit too close to home. I had spent lots of time at St. Johns Regional Hospital in Joplin when I worked as a Device Rep & can clearly remember what the area around the hospital looked like. To see the images on the TV now & hear the stories from people who lost their homes, family members & friends is truly heartbreaking. I just can't even imagine what they are going through. So heartbreaking...
Monday night was pretty quiet - weather wise. I stayed close to the TV & sadly watched the news coverage from Joplin. It really got me thinking - where in our house would we go if there was a tornado & how would we survive if we were trapped for hours or days? So after work on Tuesday, I went to the store & put together a "tornado survival kit" to keep in the basement. It includes items like: bottled water, granola bars, trail mix, flashlight, weather radio, new batteries, a whistle, dog food, pillows & blankets that I put in a plastic storage bin...just incase!
On Tuesday they were predicting a "tornado outbreak" across the Kansas City area for the next 2 days so I stay tuned to the TV....until around 9:30pm when the satellite went out :( Shane had left for work around 9pm & shortly after we had two different severe thunderstorms roll on by. Hail, heavy rain, strong winds but thankfully no tornadoes.
Wednesday started out to be a quiet morning but by 11am things started to get crazy. I was working at St. Lukes South & was getting ready to go to lunch when we hear the tornado sirens come on. We looked out the window & only saw gray skies & rain. Then we turned on the TV & they were talking of "rotation" being spotted about 12 blocks straight south of the hospital as well as above the area where we live. I tried calling Shane but he would not answer the phone so then I started to worry since there had been severe weather at our house as well. Then they announced over the hospital speaker to "please put the Code Gray into effect" which meant evacuating all patients, family members, staff & head to the designated "safe place" which was the lower level of the hospital.We evacuated patients out of their rooms, into the hallways & away from windows & then they announced a tornado was spotted several blocks away from the hospital so we were all instructed to move down to the lower level. I was amazed there was no chaos as the entire hospital made their way down stairs to the basement. We sat down against the wall in the hallway for about an hour waiting for the "all clear". I tried to text/call Shane again but we had no service down in the basement so none of us knew what was going on outside.
*photo of the tornado above the shopping center 12 blocks down the road from the hospital - thanks Michelle!In the hallway to my right was a woman in active labor that they had brought down on an "evacuation sled" which made the hour interesting. As I sat there, I listened to her fetal monitor & watched her cry. I didn't know if she was crying because she was in pain or because she may have thought she might be delivering her baby in a hallway during a tornado!? Regardless I felt bad for her. Then I thought what a birth story to tell to your child!
To my left was a new mom holding her 2 week old preemie baby tight. After talking with her she had shared that her baby was going to be in the hospital for about 3 more weeks & she was here visiting her. The baby was SO tiny! There were some people crying, others desperately trying to get ahold of loved ones & others sitting there quietly praying. It was a weird & eerie feeling sitting in that hall thinking about what "might" happen as the events of the Joplin tornado were all fresh in our minds.
We finally got word that the tornado warning had been lifted & we were able to return to our departments. We watched more of the weather, ate lunch & went about the rest of our day. In just 2 hours there were 14 reports of tornadoes around the area & unfortunately, it isn't over. We will be under a tornado watch until later tonight.
Needless to say, I am pretty much done with this weather & living in Kansas. Oh & I never did get ahold of Shane. I was told tornado sirens went off in Spring Hill when all this was going on & he never called me.
My guess is he slept though the entire thing...go figure!!
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