Friday Question #123
Have you ever experienced an extreme force of nature like a tornado, hurricane, earthquake or volcano? Do these types of events (or the possibility of them) scare/worry/frighten you?
The tornado sirens were going off again in our neighborhood last night. Instead of getting up like last time, I was just annoyed. They woke me up. I tried to sleep through them. So, I guess I am not too afraid of tornadoes.
I do remember being really scared of them when I was a kid though. At some point in my childhood I saw some special on tv about tornadoes, and never slept through a summer-night storm again.
When I was in college in November of 2005 though, a tornado came really close to campus. It was a Saturday, and a bunch of the architecture students were working in the studio (which was on the 3rd floor with a lot of glass) because we had a big review on the following Monday. Someone’s mom called to warn us about bad weather, so what did we do? Keep working, then get up to gawk at the storm from the window when we saw it pass by. You can kind of see the spiral forming in the photo below, toward the center (and that’s just tape on the window, not something floating).
That is the closest I have come to seeing a tornado! And I wasn’t in Illinois when the “earthquake” hit last year.
So maybe going through that experience made me less afraid? Who knows!
Themocracy
Wow– those pictures are pretty intense! It came down here in batches last night, but no sirens. Just the sound of constantly passing trains…
I was in a tornado when I was about 7 years old at my cousin’s car auction. My mom was working there, but my grandparents came and got me as the weather turned and went to a hotel. I watched it from the window and even saw the back end of our car being lifted in the parking lot. Even though I remember it vividly, I’ve never been overly frightened by them.
The most extreme weather we usually get is snow (this last winter was brutal!). (and this epic heatwave… 29 of the past 36 days have been over 90 degrees with nothing below 80… and more HOTness to follow).
We occasionally have bad thunder storms and remnants of hurricanes, but nothing too intense. Did you hear about the 3.7 earthquake we had on the news?! There was no damage and no injuries but it was the talk of the metro area that day.
Scary! I love where I live because there is rarely extreme weather in New England (with the exception of big snow storms). We only really get hurricanes here, but that is rare and they have usually dies down to tropical storms by the time they get this far north.
I am not really afraid of any of it but my kids sure are. Does your tornado siren talk? Ours does and it is super creepy! My youngest has no idea what it means so he was just annoyed when I woke him up last night. The other 3 were scared and so worried. I ended up with 2 kids in my bed last night. My oldest claimed she wasn’t afraid but then she made her sister sleep in her room with her so I’m thinking she was and just didn’t want to admit it.
I think we are supposed to have more storms tonight. I am exhausted!
Thankfully, ours does NOT talk. Creepy!
I cannot believe how much ran we’ve had in the past two days. I hope our garden is happy!
That tornado looks gorgeous.. but freaky too. I would love to see something like that though.
I’ve never experienced any sort of extreme force of nature. Apparently we’re supposed to be getting hit by a huge earthquake one of these days but I’m pretty sure they’ve been saying that for over 50 years.
In South Florida, we get hurricanes ALL THE TIME, so natural disasters are kind of common to me. But I’ve never seen a tornado like that, only water spouts that form in the ocean but never make it to land.
~Amanda
Wow, that’s pretty intense. I can’t believe that happened during college! I’m terrified of tornadoes, so I hope we don’t get any while I’m in CU.
One would think that because I’ve lived in the Midwest all my life that I would be used to tornadoes…but they still scare me. I hate the thought that one minute your house could be there and the next it could be gone. Starting over from scratch is one of my biggest fears. Growing up, when the tornado siren would go off I would immediately put a leash on the dog and sit next to the door to the bathroom (we didn’t have a basement) with him just in case. I’m a little calmer now but still get really worried.
My answer is ::here::
Have a wonderful weekend.
We don’t have those things in Brazil, and not really here in DC either, so I’m more fascinated than scared!
Wow, tornadoes scare me! That coming from a girl who has been through a number of earthquakes out here in CA. The worst was 1994 — the infamous Northridge earthquake. It was a 6.4, I think. Our house was right on the epicenter and I literally got thrown out of bed. Tons of houses in our neighborhood were condemned, apartment buildings collapsed, our mall was a disaster area, freeways broke… It was crazy. To this day, I dive under desks if a big truck drives by and makes the windows shake. It was really traumatizing for me.
Oh my gosh. I think I would be the same way if I went through that!
Awww, I was hoping your “force of nature” link was going to link to a picture of me. BAM *flexes*
hehe. Kidding aside, I’ve seen tornados twice and have been “near” them too many times to count. NOT.A.FAN. I get very freaked out when they are around and am a nervous wreck.
For exapmle, when we first moved to KC from Ames, the sirens were going off and, since we were living in an apt w/out a basement, I made my wife put on her running shoes in case we had to bolt to the main clubhouse where there was a basement. 🙂
Do you have a weather radio? I was super close to getting one of those.
LOL. You crack me up.
We do not have a weather radio. I know someone who does. They say they get the warnings after the storm has passed 😛
A few years back we felt an earthquake in Phoenix. I forget exactly where the epicenter was – edge of California if memory serves. The water in our swimming pool was swaying from side to side and coming over the edge. Really freaky.
I’m always thinking of tornadoes around you guys in the summer – Mica makes them sound like they are there all the time.
Here, we get haboobs (dust storms) periodically. We haven’t had a big one yet this summer, but we’re due for one soon. As long as I’m indoors, I kind of like them because I get to see real weather so infrequently, but it’d be a bad day if I were out on a trail and a big one came through!
I guess I’ve gone through so many tornado warnings without ever seeing a tornado that I’m not too frightened of them (and hurricanes, earthquakes and volcanoes are definitely not happening in WI haha). I usually check radar maps to make sure the actual warning area isn’t too close – last night there seemed to be tornadoes going north, south, east and west of Madison while somehow completely missing it!
Wow, those are some scary looking pictures! I went through hurricane Andrew in 1992 when I was just a kid, and I remember it like it was yesterday. Definitely a traumatizing experience!
I heard about the tornado warnings in Chicago! I always took tornado warnings seriously in Chicago because they’re rare. Since living in Oklahoma, not so much. It’s hard to even watch TV in the spring because of all the weather interruptions!
I did experience the earthquake here a few months back and it was incredibly cool. Freaky, but cool. I also lived through a cat 4 hurricane in New England in 1986. Remember that one well.
I’ve been through tornadoes but have never seen one. That bums me out to no end.
I’ve been through quite a few earthquakes, growing up in Southern California. The biggest was a 7.2, if I remember right. My mom always had us standing in the doorways, which really doesn’t help, but it did place that memory deep inside my head for years of what we did when an earthquake was happening.