Stormy Nights

I live in a basement. Literally. So when I first wake up I'm usually pretty oblivious to the outside world at first. Today was no different. I woke up, got online and started cruising... and then I notice that I have a voice mail from my sister.

Dad's in the emergency room.

...shit.

I was having a bit of a connection problem with my cell, so I went upstairs to use the house phone and called my sister. It was shortly after I dialed that I heard the civil defense sirens blaring.

...double shit.

Well that explained why there weren't many guys online tonight...

I spoke with my sister who told me to take shelter in the basement and assured me that there was nothing I could do even if I were to go to the hospital. She was right, but being reminded that I'd have to basically wait out the storm didn't do anything to calm my aggravation.

So I went back downstairs and turned on the television to the local news (which I hate). The Little Sioux cub scout camp south of us got hit pretty bad, four confirmed dead with 30+ injured. I have such fond memories of camping there when I was a scout. My nephew has camped there too.

So I sat in the basement and watched impatiently as tornadoes rolled down my sister's street and worried when I could get in touch with her after the fact. She's fine though and there was no damage to her home.

Following the storm I was no longer able to contact my sister. The phone just kept ringing. That worried me a bit, but getting the fact that it was ringing meant that they still had a phone connected to the other end.

I decided to get ready so that when the storm did break, I could get over to the hospital. During my shower though, mom came home. Due to the storm and the crisis down at Little Sioux it was several hours before Dad was able to get a hospital room.

I wish I could provide more of a closing to this post, but there's no real closing to be had. People died. Sister's okay. Dad isn't.

...the world continues to turn.