I know all about what to do in earthquakes: yay for
"Duck&Cover" drills in elementary school.
But Dallas doesn't get those.
What do we get instead?
Tornados.
A year (or two?) ago, I realized I didn't have a clue what the drill was for tornados.
Of course, that shocked my youth group, as they have the routine pounded into them in school practices and drills
(much like our earthquake practices).
Apparently, when you hear the tornado sirens, you are supposed to go into the central room or hallway of the house
(preferably closed off from exterior walls/windows/and other dangerous stuff),
and throw a mattress over yourself.
Ummm...
By 11:30pm tonight, and the second time the sirens went off this evening, I had had enough.
They sound horrible too, by the way. They sound so deathly and mournful.
I always get a sinking, dread feeling when I hear them, even for the
routine-1st-Wednesday-per-month-lunchtime-testing-of the sirens.
At least Ricardo was also home this time: first time I didn't have to wait through tornado sirens alone.
I wasn't gonna even think of lying under a mattress. Mattresses are too heavy, we have too many corners to turn to get it into the hallway...but, I figured I should try to be safe and so I grabbed every pillow from our bed and assumed that would be enough protection from any shattering glass or flying debris.
And I crankily sat in the hallway with my laptop.
Not a fan of tornados. Too much hype, and most of the time it's for nothing. Give me an earthquake any day.
1 comment:
I agree. Of course, if I had ever been in a severe earthquake that caused widespread damage, I might feel differently. The little ones that we have here from time to time are actually rather fun.
Good point about the earthquake/tornado drills. During the Nisqually quake a few years ago, you could tell who had grown up here. We were all crouched under our desks while the non-natives where running around the lab wondering what to do.
Now the administration has added earthquake drills to our standard lineup of emergency preparedness practices. I don't see tornado drills happening anytime soon though.
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