Living a Texas Adventure

Living A Texas Adventure

“These things happen to other people, but not to me!” I wailed in a panicky voice. I uttered those words as I found myself and our daughter Karen in the hall closet. Just what was I doing in the hall closet? It was six-thirty in the morning when my daughter pounded on my bedroom door, her cell phone in her hand: "Mom, Mom, get up, there is a tornado warning.” I sprang out of bed, with fireman-like haste, grabbed my bathrobe, put it on as I ran, and grabbed the dogs toward the hall closet. We began pulling out jackets and sweaters, and then we took all the board games off the top shelf. I pushed the shelf up, then removed it from the closet. We once again grabbed the dogs and went into the hall closet, where we stayed for twenty minutes. Finally, my daughter glanced at her cell phone once again, announcing that the tornado had dissipated. What a relief, we spent the next two hours putting everything back in the hall closet...whew, it was a close one. We have had several close calls over the years, but nothing like the two that hit simultaneously on May 22, 2024.

The weatherman began by stating that the weather on May 22, 2024, could bring tornadoes toward Temple. My husband retired at the end of January, so he was home when we had wind and hail on May 21st. That was bad enough, a few tree limbs in the front yard broke off the tree, but other than that, we were fine. My husband was fine, but I was getting close to panic mode. Having lived in Buffalo most of my life did not prepared for tornadoes. There had only been one EF tornado, and the worst that it did was take out a huge showroom window on a car dealership! Now I found myself and my husband watching the sky. There was more wind and hail; the hail was the size of a dime. We did not think anything would happen. At least my husband didn’t; my little voice kept nagging me. Most of the day, I kept watch on the sky, as fear began to take over. My husband kept telling me everything was all right; my question was: “Why does the weather radio keep going off?” We ate dinner quietly, and our four small dogs stayed close to us. Around six o’clock in the evening, the wind began to pick up; never a good sign in Texas- then the weather radio began again: “A tornado warning is being issued for Temple, Texas. I am the first to admit that I panic first and ask questions later. I ran to the hall closet and began pulling jackets, coats, and hats, emptying the rack of coats. Then I removed games and decorations from the shelf. Then I removed the shelf itself for our safety. My husband watched me, mystified. He once again told me to wait, wait my foot! He decided to look out the front door. Suddenly, he yelled, is everything out of the closet? I asked him what he saw, and he mumbled something about the sky being an odd shade of green. That was all I needed to hear; I was ready to go into the closet. We gathered up the four dogs, who were confused and scared. I had one on my foot, one in my arms, my husband had one in his arms, and one trying to curl around his leg.

As we hid in the closet, the wind began to howl like an Irish banshee, which is the only thing I can liken the sound to. I prayed the closet would keep us safe. We were in the closet for almost forty minutes. We emerged, the dogs calmed down, my husband made a quick trip to the bathroom, and I felt relieved once the worst was over.

No one prepared us for the damage of EF1 or EF2. Tree limbs were down all over the city of Temple. There was no electricity; we had battery-operated lights for such occasions, and they worked great. We ventured outside, and part of the siding was blown out. Thank God the roof was still intact. Tree limbs had been downed. Our landlord came to check on us and the damage. His girlfriend called him, told him the storm was approaching, he needed to come home. He was in his pickup truck when the tornado struck. He told us that the truck darn near overturned.

We went to bed early the night of May 22, 2024, secure in the fact that we had survived the storm. My CPAP was useless; there was no electricity. I have no idea if I snored most of the night. I know I slept well. Morning brought a new challenge: no electricity, no stove, no fridge. We headed out the door, and we drove to Belton, Texas, to look for a diner to eat breakfast. We found one. I had one pancake; my husband had pancakes, bacon, and eggs. A cup of coffee for him and tea for me. Another thunderstorm hit Belton, so we played the waiting game. It stopped after about fifteen minutes. We then went home.

Neighbors began to come out of their homes, as we checked on each other; one neighbor decided the sound we heard sounded as if it were a locomotive train running amok. People began pulling tree limbs to the curb. Everyone had a huge stack of limbs, sticks, and what have you piled up... ready-made forts?

The house next to us sustained more damage than most. A tree fell through the roof, making a huge hole in the garage and another huge hole in the living room. That scared me more than the time in the closet; however, we are safe, and that is what matters more than anything materialistic. Our Texas adventures continue to this day. A Texan is saying: “Give the weather five minutes; it will change!” No truer words were ever spoken, at least about Texas weather.