Crazy Weather in the Tri-State
It feels like every other week I’m reporting on some kind of crazy weather in the tri-state area. Just a couple of weeks ago, the forecast called for thunderstorms, tornadoes, and snow – all in the span of 24 hours. And sure enough, Mother Nature delivered. Luckily, it all hit on a Sunday when most places were closed, but just a few days later, she dumped another six inches of snow on us, causing major delays and shutdowns.
Now, I don’t mess around with tornadoes. As the person responsible for sending out tornado watches and warnings across our websites, social media pages, and apps, I take my job seriously. When storms roll in, I grab my weather helmet, lace up my sneakers, and hunker down in our basement storm shelter while I work. But on the morning a tornado actually hit my yard, I was totally unprepared.
That Time I Was Unprepared Was the Time a Tornado Hit My Property
I knew bad weather was possible the night before, but I went to bed without much concern. I wake up early for work, so when my phone started going berserk at 5:15 a.m., I was groggy but got up to check things out. I walked to our back sliding glass door, opened it, and immediately saw our very large grill sliding past me like it weighed nothing. That was all I needed to see. I slammed the door shut and yelled for my family to get to the basement.
When the storm passed, it was still too dark to see much. But as the sun came up, we could finally make out a clear path of destruction cutting through the woods behind our house. Driving through the neighborhood later, we saw exactly where the F1 tornado had ripped through, taking down trees and leaving a colossal mess in its wake…