Mass Destruction

[davidn]

All is bright and sunny this morning, but watching the weather last night, it seemed that the world was having a decent go at ending after all. We were in the living room, with the television on, when we were suddenly told by a BBC Micro that a tornado was approaching and that we should take shelter in an interior room of a sturdy building in case of exploding windows.

Our house is only one room wide, so we huddled up in the basement to hide from the oncoming storm. From the window, it seemed that much like the last time we had a warning of a hurricane, being in the storm of the century was very much like being in a light breeze, and I was all ready to laugh about the extent of the damage being that somewhere on the coast, a wheelie-bin fell over. But just fifty or so miles west of us, houses fell down, trees were uprooted, and cars were squashed by one or both of the above.

And when we went upstairs after the actual danger of the tornado had passed us, it was terrifying. I've never seen lightning like that before in my life - it wasn't just the occasional flash, it was a near-constant light, flashing in the sky like a climactic battle was raging in the intergalactic war with Planet Discotheque. It was only at about eleven at night that it had calmed down enough to be completely dark in the bedroom.

Getting a tornado in this part of the country is a very rare occurrence... you hear about these things happening very far away from you, but it's different when it's right down the road. Even though nothing happened to us or anybody we know, it's a reminder of just how powerless we are against the weather, when it feels like it.

Comments

[ethelfleda.livejournal.com]

That emergency broadcast system just makes me want to play Frogger. This is not the response they are hoping for.

[davidn]

The attempt at voice synthesis reminded me of a "game" I remember called What Granny Says, which asked you whether various pieces of elderly wisdom were true or false. It used to prompt you CRUSTS MAKE YOUR HAIR CURL. TRUE OR FALSE." in the most threatening Dalek-like voice you can imagine - apparently Granny had been a heavy smoker for the last 80 years.

[kjorteo]

Crusts make your hair curl? What... what does that even mean? Like, eating bread, pies, and anything that has a crust gives you curlier hair? Um... false?

[davidn]

Obviously, false :) But... yes, is this an exclusively British old wives' tale? Specifically, I always thought it meant crusts on bread, on your sandwiches and things. Look, I know it sounds stupid now that I'm writing it out. Much like that other one about that if you eat oranges and drink milk too close together they'll curdle up and make poison. But nobody else I've ever mentioned it to seems to have ever heard that one apart from me - perhaps I just went to a weird school.

[kjorteo]

I would say you evidently went to the weirdest school ever, were it not for an actual game confirming that it's not just you that heard that one. Still, I never did....

[silvertarna.livejournal.com]

"the intergalactic war with Planet Discotheque"

This is why you're awesome.

[davidn]

It was nearly why I was dead! People closer to the tornado said the sky turned bright orange... when I was driving home, I saw lights being reflected off other cars and was convinced there was an ambulance around the corner, it was that constant.

[jenny0.livejournal.com]

I remember the tornado in 1995 that killed some people in Western MA (where I grew up) - it was unreal. I mean, there are tornadoes outside Kansas?