Sitting down to dinner last night after an afternoon of intense thunderstorms, lightning and pouring rain, we noticed that things seemed to be getting even worse. My husband thought we should turn on the weather news, and at that moment his phone alerted him that the weather was about to be more severe. As we left our food on the table, went into the living room, and turned on the television, we were startled to see that the prediction was for a tornado basically just a few hundred yards away from our home and coming our way. We hurried to the basement and sat there listening to the news give way to the dreaded blaring warning system without the accompanying “this is only a test.”
Although we heard two loud groaning noises, unlike any we had ever encountered before, the storm passed overhead and went on to threaten the neighboring towns to the east. We emerged from the basement, surveyed the yard, and went back to our meal. Save for many cardinal flowers now lying prone, we escaped any real damage. Fortunately, though they appeared on radar, no tornadoes actually touched ground in any Connecticut towns last night.
I had always thought tornadoes were storms of the American Midwest, such as the one in the Wizard of Oz in Kansas. But it turns out that very localized tornadoes do hit New England from time to time, doing intense damage but in very limited areas. I am grateful that the alert system now sends messages to cell phones as well as televisions. We were informed, safe and dry for a tense few minutes. Fortunately only our heart rate and blood pressure showed any effects!
Saved By Words 
Wow, that was tense….
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…and meant to say, thank goodness you’re OK
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Wow, so glad to hear you are okay! It’s good they have warning systems in place and also good that you have a basement to go to. I have yet to see a tornado (thankfully) though they do occasionally touch down here in the Pacific NW.
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It’s the mobile homes that are really scary in a tornado.
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Sounds scary and glad you had no damage. Looking at your map, and also other maps, I’m impressed by the English place names in the area and their strange juxtapositions. Probably showing my ignorance of Connecticut and U.S. generally.
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No. Connecticut and Massachusetts are full of English names. The rest of the country not so much.
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Very pleased to hear that you did not suffer the worst of that tornado.
Writing from England, it feels weird to see such familiar place names completely out of context.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Most of our towns, rivers, lakes and mountains have English names.
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So glad you are safe and sound!
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Goodness! That is scary Elizabeth! I’m glad you are both okay!
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We are too.
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I was working at a radio station in the late nineties when the emergency broadcast system became the emergency alert system. The engineer brought in all new equipment.
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It really works I am happy to say.
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Wow! You had a close call! I’m glad the tornado didn’t touch down near you.
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Me too. Do you get them in N.C. or just hurricanes?
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Tornadoes are rare in NC. Hurricanes hit the coast directly. They come up the back way to lash the mountains with rain.
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Thanks. I like learning about various climates.
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Wow! Glad you’re safe.
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I nominated you for the Sunshine Blogger Award! ❤️ I love your blog posts! ❤
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Thanks so much. I write for the connection and love making it with people.
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I live in earthquake country now (California), but I spent eight years of my childhood in the Dakotas. I remember several times going to the basement and listening to the reports on the radio with my family. It was especially scary when we heard a tornado had struck a nearby city. Thankfully, I never had to live through an actual tornado, although Once I saw the very distinctive looking funnel cloud in the distance.
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Driving across the country we spotted one on the horizon. My mom said we would get out of the car and lie in the ditch if it got any closer. Very frightening.
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Sounds terrifying. Our windstorms are getting worse and more frequent and we occasionally get a minor earth tremor here in the UK, and of course, some flooding, but on the whole, we’ve been spared anything more apocalyptic… so far.
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Ours have certainly intensified. I am so glad that the climate isn’t really changing according to our president.
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🤣
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Sounds like a scary experience. Echoing others, I’m glad you are safe and indeed, that no one appears to have been hurt in the area affected. Though it proved unnecessary on this ocasion, what an effective and impressive warning system you have in place. And again, like others, how strange to see a plethora of English placenames!
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We even have a Cornwall and a Cornwall Bridge here!
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Great that you have a place to take shelter in.
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That’s right. The real danger is to people like you in trailers.(politically incorrect term I realize.)
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No problem, Elizabeth. We pride ourselves on not being politically correct.
Actually, we are a step above the “trailer” level. We joke, that we have graduated to the “modular home” level. In actuallity, it’s just two trailers nailed together, and still has wheels.
They even charge a little more for the lot, maybe because we make a bigger mess, when a tornado hits. 🙂
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I love it.
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Whew! Living in the Inland NW, I’ve never seen or heard a tornado, but I’m sure I’d be terrified. Happy to hear it didn’t touch down in your neighborhood.
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I was relieved for sure.
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Alabama has two tornado seasons. One destroyed my house in 2011. Hate to hear that siren
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Wow. Were you home when it happened?
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Yes. My daughters room imploded. But she had already come to my room
Had she still been in her room, it would have been tragic. A house is just a house and I was blessed that my family was safe
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Thank God.
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Yes!
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Wonderful writing Elizabeth! I have never seen a Tornado, just rains. For the first time, I can understand a little how it feels like to face one. Thank you!
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I don’t envy anyone the experience, but am glad I conveyed how it felt.
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