“Storms” Photo by Johannes Plenio
To my surprise, my quiet Sunday ended with a tornado passing within a mile of my house without my knowledge until a few days after it was over. Unfortunately, yet fortunately, this exposed a flaw in my emergency preparedness, sparking concern for other storms.
Sundays are my favorite day of the week. I attend church in the morning, have lunch, and take my afternoon nap. That week was a little different, as my wife was out of town attending the Gaither Homecoming Friends concerts in Gatlinburg, TN, with a lady friend. I stayed home with our pets. Instead of eating out for lunch, I grilled myself a steak and shrimp dinner after my nap. Dinner was delicious. It was followed by an evening reading on the deck, one of my favorite pastimes in the warm weather season.
However, not too long into my reading, I noticed thunderstorms approaching the area. I heard them off to the west, but they didn’t seem severe, nor did they appear to be coming this way. There weren’t any weather alerts out, nor was I hearing a lot of thunder. Also, sometimes storms follow the mountains and go north, never really affecting our area. So, I continued reading and listening to my music.
However, my dog Abby was hearing or sensing something I was not. She normally isn’t concerned about thunderstorms and doesn’t want to go inside if it’s raining, especially if deer are in the field. She approached me at my chair and then went to the sliding glass door as if to say, “OK, it’s time to go inside. Let’s go!”
It was almost 9 p.m., so I decided to head to bed and read for a while. There was no sense in getting into computer stuff or turning on the TV because there would likely be a power failure as the storm went through.
As I curled in bed to read, I opened the window and turned on my music. It wasn’t long before the bedroom door started shaking. I thought the storm pushing through was causing it, so I closed the window and went back to my reading. I became concerned that maybe my cat needed something, so I went to check on him. As I did, my dog headed to the hall bathroom and hid. That was unusual.
During this, I missed any weather alerts about possible tornado activity in our area. However, my best friend in Arkansas didn’t—he immediately texted me about a tornado warning. With only a few minutes left of the warning, and I didn’t hear any unusual weather, I went to sleep.
The following morning, I learned that I had missed all of the weather alerts the National Weather Service sent out. Why? Since I have several apps on my phone, they alerted me to the incoming storms and a tornado warning. I didn’t receive the alerts because I do not sleep with my phone. Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) causes sleeping issues for me, so I leave my phone charging downstairs so I’m not disturbed. The tablet that I used for reading was with me; however, it didn’t have any weather alerts.
As a CMT patient, I believe I should be extra prepared. Whatever we can do to prepare for an emergency or stressful situation is best. The next day, I took some time to look at weather alert apps and radios.
I found an app created by the American Red Cross that looked to be perfect for alerting me to bad weather. I installed and programmed it on my tablet to alert me for weather specific to my area. That evening, I learned that the app worked great as tornado watches were issued by the National Weather Service.
When the weather radio arrived, I programmed it for my area, set it up in a central location of my home, and let it go. I bought a Midland product because I’ve had good luck with them and heard good remarks about them. It was set up in the family room for about a week before I had a chance to learn if it worked and if I programmed it correctly.
If you live in an area with severe storms, such as tornados or hurricanes to name two, you should be as prepared as you can. Even though I do not live in those storm-prone areas, I do a few routine things to help me should there be an emergency. Every night, I place my shoes, braces, and extra shoes in a specific area of the house. When I use them during the day, they are returned to their spot. That way, I can grab and go. Clothing is placed in a spot where I can grab them, too. Also, my phone is always left charging in the same place. Grab and go, should I need to do so. My dog’s leashes are kept in certain locations in the house, so there is no last-second searching. These may sound a bit trivial or routine, but it would help in an emergency. For me, fewer steps to finding something is better as it means less pain in my feet and less anxiety in an emergency.