Hunker down for the storm

We live in central Oklahoma. The only place I have lived other than central Oklahoma is the panhandle of Texas. Both are in tornado alley. About the only difference is that in the panhandle of Texas, there is no worry of being hit by a tree since there are none and you can see the storm coming for miiiiillllleees because it is completely flat(of course with no trees to block your sight). So ya see, I have dealt with tornado season my entire life. So many people that have never lived in an area frequented by tornadoes are so afraid of them and say they would never like to live here BECAUSE of tornadoes. First I would like to say that, Yes, I have a fear of tornadoes but I would much rather deal with tornadoes than I would earthquakes or hurricanes. With the meteorology today, we normally know hours before the storm if tornadoes are likely. When they are near, we know almost to the minute when it will be in our neighborhood and they only last a few minutes. During a recent outbreak of severe weather, I decided to catch some photos.

Most of the storm is spent outside if the rain is not too bad. Especially when the warning sirens go off. That is a sure sign that every single person on the block is outside watching. Kenyon is always ready to be right by my side to watch the storm come in. I personally love storms. I love to see the power of God at work and would love to someday ride with a storm chaser. You can watch how fast the storm is moving, see if it is really coming in your direction or will be a few miles away, and of course you can see if there are any funnels forming that will dip down forming a tornado. My husband and my youngest daughter are on the complete opposite of that scale.

Kalysa would much rather spend every scary moment in her safe place(the hall closet) with her bike helmet on and her special blankie in place. Keslee was sure to remind her baby sister, "remember what preacher said God promised in Joshua 1:5 I am with thee. I will not fail thee or forsake thee." and Kenyon reminded them both Psalms 23 says not to be scared even when you are in the valley of death. Monty was at work this night but he gets updates on the cell phone, they had the tv weather on and he was calling to check in on us every few minutes. Alot of time is spent on the phone making sure everyone in the area is watching the storm or having everyone else calling to make sure we are.

Keslee wants to be outside with Kenyon and I watching but she still kinda wants to be in the closet with Kalysa. She goes from checking outside for a few minutes at a time then just watching from a window then going to the safe place. Here she is watching Mike Morgan describe the storm in our area but also in a place that she felt a little safer. Don't really know how well those laundry baskets would hold up but they made her feel better.
Now when the wind starts whipping so hard you can hear it and the sky gets dark all of a sudden and the rain is driving so hard that it stings your arms....

it is time for everyone to get in the safe place. We normally never have to stay there for more than about 10 minutes total before it is all over. Luckily we have never been in an area that was actually hit. We have all gotten to witness plenty of damage after a storm that has hit within miles of us. Now those are some amazing stories. Allthough I pray we never are quite that close, I do love our stormy season.