Reason # 568
March 25, 2009
Why I love Susan.
I texted her to tell her that we were having a tornado warning. And HAIL!
And she texted back. TIP: Take the vodka into the shelter with you.
Sadly I had to text her back and tell her that I was trapped in traffic on the highway. But as soon as I got home I would take her advice.
Then I called her so she could hear the hail while I was driving. I like to be as distracted as possible while operating a vehicle apparently.
Posted by Chris @ 7:48 pm
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I just keep a stash of “goodies” in our safe room. You know like blankets, water, small airplane bottles of Bailey’s Irish Cream.
You know us super mom’s always like to be prepared
I hope you and your family are enjoying your new state!
March 25th, 2009 at 7:55 pmOur backyard is COVERED in hail. Welcome to Texas
March 25th, 2009 at 8:18 pmTexas thunderstorms can scare the ever living crap out of you.
March 25th, 2009 at 8:36 pmWelcome to tornado season!!!
March 25th, 2009 at 8:51 pmAs someone who moved to the south when I was 11, I can tell you that you’re going to want to prepare your kids for tornado warnings at school. They will make them sit out in the hall with a text book so that when the tornado touches down you put your head between your knees and the book over the back of your head. To protect you from the ceiling caving in on you.
And the whole time the tornado sirens are going off like something out of a war zone.
I know you have boys and maybe they won’t freak out like I did but I was seriously in tears the first few times thinking WE WERE ALL GOING TO DIE AND I WOULD NEVER SEE MY MOM & DAD AGAIN.
March 25th, 2009 at 8:52 pmThat was the biggest hail I have seen. It looked like it had snowed outside.
March 25th, 2009 at 8:52 pmWe had storms as well,but I didn’t see any of the hail at my house. I HATE being out on the road when it all starts!
March 25th, 2009 at 8:59 pmThanks for the warning. For whatever Austin experiences, Houston’s next …
March 25th, 2009 at 9:01 pmjust put my new car under covered parking and am hoping for the best for the car that cannot be covered … as the storm gets closer to me … why do these things always come through at night?
March 25th, 2009 at 9:07 pmOur yard and street were covered earlier! My four year old was scared because it was so very loud. But when it was all over, they (I have three kids) went to the backyard and collected some of the larger hail into a zip lock, then put them in the freezer to show the grandparents when they come over next week!
March 25th, 2009 at 9:07 pmThose Texas storms last spring caused us to have to replace our roof. I used to get excited that we were getting hail. I thought it was close to snow and I truly miss the winters of New England. Yes, welcome to Texas. Blech! They don’t have tornadoes in New England.
March 25th, 2009 at 9:12 pmLOL! I just sent you an e-mail about vodka. I agree with Susan. I want to drink lots of it tonight.
Ditto what Cate said. Especially the ones in and around the Hill Country. So, I guess the hail and tornado warnings will be making their way to us tonight or manana. Blek.
March 25th, 2009 at 9:19 pmI hope you are okay! (Well, I guess you are, since you posted this. Whew.) I would pretty much lose my sh!t if I was stuck in traffic and there was a tornado WARNING. We have so few of them here (actual warnings) that they scare the ever loving daylights out of me, even if I can go in my basement and hide.
March 25th, 2009 at 9:45 pmA tip from me (OK) to you (TX): The best place to stop in a thunderstorm, during hail, is under a highway overpass ….. first of all, to protect your car. Secondly, if a tornado actually blows through, you can squeeze your body way up high in the corner of the overpass and the tornado will blow right over you — ta-da!!! I actually have never had to do this, but I saw it on the Discovery Channel … it totally worked for this one family. And you are pretty tiny, so you could squeeze yourself WAAAAAAYYYYYYY up in there!!! Crisis averted!!
March 25th, 2009 at 9:55 pmI used to get the watch and warning confused. I thought warning meant “there could be a tornado, but we’re not sure. so you are warned.” and that watch meant “you can now watch a tornado because it’s confirmed that one exists”
It’s actually the other way around. and it’s not recommended to watch tornadoes. who knew? not me. I was outside taking pictures of the hail with my iPhone while I yelled at Husband to find one of the good cameras.
March 25th, 2009 at 10:29 pmAw…everyone needs a friend like that! Hope it passed you by!
March 26th, 2009 at 2:22 amKalisa’s comment scares me. Seems they could come up with something better than the old “duck and cover” by now!
March 26th, 2009 at 6:04 amWelcome to TX. When my husband first got stationed there, he said there saw a tornado his first week. I’m so glad we live in the northeast. Give me a blizzard any day.
March 26th, 2009 at 6:24 amAhhh, tornado drills. We have those here too. Did y’all not have hail where you lived before? It hails anytime for no apparent reason around here. I have pics of golf ball sized hail covering the fields on my blog from last Spring.
March 26th, 2009 at 6:43 amI assume all is well as you posted about being in the car when it started. How did the kids handle it? Take care and take cover. Thinking of you.
March 26th, 2009 at 8:24 amPS Did you take pics?
March 26th, 2009 at 9:19 amWe got no hail but lots of rain..
March 26th, 2009 at 9:20 amYeah…we had to battery up those flashlights. The thunder is definitely extra loud here…sometimes the whole family ends up in our bed, dog and cat included.
March 26th, 2009 at 9:35 amSusan is my kind of friend. Calm, practical, and offers great advice.
I remember watching funnel clouds as a kid from our living room windows. And electrical storms from the pool deck. I also remember a trip home from a day of swimming at Balmorhea to celerabrate my birthday. I remember hearing that freight train sound everyone describes and looking out the back window of our car to see the outline of a huge tornado bearing down on the highway behind us. We would later learn that it was an F4, and that it devastated the town of Saragosa. I never gave it much thought, but we never made another trip to Balmorhea after that.
March 26th, 2009 at 9:49 amI think I’d pick a snowstorm over a tornado (warning) any day of the week and twice on Sunday. Thinking of you!
March 26th, 2009 at 11:51 amEvery time those darn sirens go off, I swear we’re moving back to Mass.
Have fun!
March 26th, 2009 at 12:50 pmIs Susan a lush?
There I finally said it. Oh C’mon you know everyone’s been thinking it.
Chris says: Yes,she is and that is what I love about her.
March 26th, 2009 at 1:04 pmWe had a goody bag ready when we lived in Oklahoma… and before we had children.
March 26th, 2009 at 1:33 pmCards, a bag of Cheetoes, pet food, bottled water for the pets and a bottle of rum for us!
I do what I can to help.
March 26th, 2009 at 1:47 pmMy first spring in Coppell, TX, (2003) we had three different thunderstorm cells go over us in less than an hour. Grapefruit sized hail, 80 mile per hour winds, and heavy rain blowing sideways. I’ve been through hurricanes on the east coast that didn’t scare me that bad. Those cells are why if you ever drive through Grapevine on 114 or 121 all the car dealership’s lots are under cover.
I miss the bluebonnets, the BBQ, and the people. I don’t miss the heat or the thunder cells.
March 26th, 2009 at 2:43 pmonly 568?
March 26th, 2009 at 4:44 pmI thought you meant “All HAIL the vodka!”
March 28th, 2009 at 6:04 pmWe had a F-3 touchdown about 30 minutes from us Saturday where was I? Why of course out chasing trains with my boys…well it was a RARE train according to my 8 year old, found on our way home from the store. KY the new tornado alley….my husband is from OK he is even less fearful than me. We keep small bottles in our storm shelter.
March 30th, 2009 at 10:05 am