It seems I have this way of being in the car when severe weather travels through Memphis. Remember "Hurricane Elvis" several years back. I was driving in it! I had to get Dalton to therapy. Craig had called to warn about the storm but I didn't think it looked too bad. That year, I remember driving past downed interstate signs, downed power lines and broken trees. It truly looked like a war zone!
Then last year, we were traveling home from Dalton's therapy in the middle of the tornadoes that touched down in Arlington. I remember hearing the sirens blaring, Sullivan praying and us on a mission to get home. As I was getting off 385, I remember seeing a huge cloud that looked somewhat like a tornado. I later found out that was probably the tornado that was reported to touch down right near my neighborhood.
Well, I've done it again. I was dropping off tables at a friend's house and heading to pick up more from Craig's work when the skies looked green and dark. The radio had continuous interruptions reporting thunderstorm warnings for Memphis but no tornado warnings/watches. I listened intently as I continued to drive toward Craig's work. About 3/4 of the way there, the skies opened up and started pouring. The wind picked up and was blowing the rain laterally. Trashcans were blowing everywhere and trees were being blown over. The rain was so hard I couldn't see 2 feet in front of my car. I got a little nervous and had the kids start praying too. Sullivan commented he had already prayed 1000 times...my little prayer warrior!
The storm kept raging as I kept driving...wondering the whole time why was I driving in this? I got really worried when I saw green/blue sparks in the sky. I'm thinking it must have been some power transformers being struck by lightening but at the time, I'm imagining a tornado tossing power lines, etc... I kept on going determined to reach Craig's work but also scanning the roadside for a "ditch" just in case me and the kids had to do a quick bail out from a tornado.
We made it to Craig's work and waited the storm out. Many of our friends lost power for 1-2 days. We were so thankful to not lose power from that storm but got a little taste when another wave of storms came through Sunday morning and knocked our power out. We were only out for 6 hours but our kids didn't know what to do with themselves without power and stuck inside. We went to church, out to lunch, etc...then once home, they could play outside in the pool. We didn't really have to suffer but I hate that still today, some people are without power on a day that is going to reach 90 degrees or more. Pray they get their power back soon!
