Tornadoes

Multiple tornadoes touched down in the St. Louis area on Friday evening.  The loud, squawking alert over my iPhone "alarmed" Clawdia and nearly gave me a heart attack as I scrambled to turn it off.  I grabbed the cat leash and two bottles of water from my fridge and went into the bathroom to be away from windows.  Clawdia usually follows me when I go to the bathroom ... so when she joined me there, I closed the door.  That scared her, and she clawed at the bottom of the door, probably hoping she could pull it open as she does our folding closet door.

A tornado had been spotted crossing the St. Louis area, including my county.  Soon, my phone alarm sounded a second time, making me think it must be on top of us.  The photo above (that I found online) shows an Amazon warehouse that was damaged in Edwardsville, Illinois, which is a mere 24 miles east of St. Louis.  Click this link to watch a video.

Just before the alarm sounded, I had been on the phone with my friend Rosie, asking her if it was okay for me to post about our dinner at Bristol Seafood Grill; she had said, "Of course!"  We hung up because she was about to go out the door to come home from visiting her sister.  It was literally minutes later when the alarm sounded on my phone.  I hit "publish" so I wouldn't lose my blog post and headed for the kitchen to grab those water bottles.  It was posted at 8:40 p.m.

Waiting in the bathroom with my cat, I was worried about Rosie ... wondering whether she knew about the tornado warning, whether she was driving right into it, whether she would be okay.  But I didn't want to call while she was driving, especially if she was dealing with a tornado.

It felt like hours later (it wasn't) when the warning expired, and I called Rosie.  Believe it or not, she was — get this — "about to go out the door to come home from visiting her sister."  (Didn't I just write that?)  Yes, she had also gotten the phone warning and had stayed put.

I took our elevator down to the lobby a little later and met her as she got home and walked into our building.  Another neighbor — who lives on her floor — was also watching anxiously for Rosie and pacing in the lobby.  The neighbor and I both hugged her.  I hope Rosie was feeling the love and concern.  I read later that it was 11:30 p.m. before the all-clear was sent out.