My tornado adventure!

April 12, 2019
Time (EDT) - 6:45 am - 6:54 am
Path Length - 8.3 miles

Guess who was silly enough to accidentally lock herself out in a tornado?

Well, to give credit where it was due, I received no warning form the national weather service.  They called and texted three times saying high winds and a thunder storm was moving into my area.  I went outside to collect Mamadoodle, Munchkin and Maisie so they would be out of the storm.  They were already in their igloo and were not coming out.  I was rushing around finding something heavy to anchor the sleeping bag that covers the igloo.  In one of those trips the deadbolt knob shifted and locked me out.  There I was--barefoot and couldn't get the door open! 

I looked out and saw the whirling mass coming cross the church parking lot.  Then, I recalled I had my husband's keys on a chain around my neck--aware that I do get locked out and he is no longer there to open the door for me.  The second key worked and knob turned.  Only by then, I could not pulled the door open.  The force of the wind was so strong, it pressed against the security door and I simply couldn't open it.  I was getting drenched by the rain.  Then came golf ball sized hail.  Fortunate for me I have a huge porch and I got that much protection.  

It was EF1 tornado.  The scary thing only last about five minutes, but that was SCARY five minutes.  As it got past the church, it turned and went down my street and really did some damage, as you can see in the photos above.  The first house is only 10 houses away from me.

All in all, I think I came through it all barely scathed.  For those not familiar with tornadoes,  they are not measured the same as hurricanes.  Hurricanes are ranked by the wind speed.  Tornadoes are ranked by how much damage done.  This tornado was ranked EF1, the  second lowest.  Only it was over 100 mph wind speed, which would make it on the level with a Cat 3 hurricane.