A day of sirens, storms and sadness

The weathermen were talking about it for several days.

Thursday was going to be a turbulent day in Alabama.

As a strong system made its way into our area, they said that we should expect an outbreak of severe storms and tornadoes.

"The atmospheric conditions were ripe for these extreme weather conditions" as the warm Gulf air would be met by the approaching cold front.

Waking up this morning, I could sense the heaviness in the air...the hint of things to come as the day wore on.

Soon the television began announcing that many of the schools in our area were going to close down early. The plan was to have parents get their children in a safe place before the storms hit. Some businesses even closed up by midday in anticipation of the impending danger. The National Weather Service called our area a "High Risk" area for severe weather. This term in not used that often...but is saved for the most severe conditions.

All of this caused anxieties to rise as we awaited this dreaded weather day.

My studio is down in my basement, so I spent most of my day down there working on my clay and occasionally listening to the weather updates. I had a pillow, a battery-run radio, and a flashlight as part of my readiness plan. During a tornado, you are advised to go to the lowest floor and the most central room, so I was prepared to grab my cat, Gizmo, run into the basement bathroom, put the pillow over my head, and do some fast praying.

Luckily for me, my immediate neighborhood only received some heavy rain and wind, even though we had tornado sirens go off several times as we were in a tornado warning area.

Unfortunately for others, the news was not so good.

Thirteen people died today and many homes were totally destroyed by Mother Nature's wrath. Some of the fatalities came from a destroyed high school in Enterprise, AL., where students became pinned under debris when a wall collapsed.

When the school closings were announced earlier in my area, some people grumbled and thought that it was an unnecessary and premature decision. Seeing what, unfortunately, occurred in Enterprise, I would have to say that it could have been a life-saving decision if the tornadoes had hit a school here.

The storms are over now and all that remains is a strong wind from the north and plunging temperatures for the next few days.

While I am sighing with relief that the storms passed me by without any damage, my heart goes out to those less fortunate today. What a tragic day for some of the people in my state.

I am hoping for a little sunshine for them tomorrow.