The Storm

Today mark's my 4th month here and I have experience the terror of an American storm with a tornado threat. I have received emails warning of severe weather conditions from Judson before, but never had I have to take safety measures by taking shelter underground. I admit that I was actually frightened by the storm this evening, a scare that surpass the super storm experienced when I was back in Form 1.

I had a packed schedule for the evening. Finishing late at Financial Aid, I only had 20 minutes to spare as Sarah was picking me up at 4:30. We were meeting Teresa for dinner and to work on our class project before class at 6pm. When I got in the car, Sarah told me that class was canceled. Well, at least we will have time to finish our project. We had a yummy dinner and managed to finish our work around 7. Sarah was kind enough to drive me to Target near the mall to get supplies for my portfolio. I wanted to get supplies soon as my interview is in 2 weeks and I needed to get ready. It was just raining a little when we got there, but the skies were dark and menacing when we got out of Target.

We started to hear the storm sirens going off. The clouds were like a cape of evil. The drive from Target would only be 5 minutes, but the storm came right down on us. Thinking that we would find shelter when we arrived at campus, we continued to drive. Just 500m before Ohio, the rain came down so hard that it was almost impossible to see more than 2 meters ahead. Flashes of lighting were right in front of the windscreen that it was impossible to open my eyes. Sarah kept hitting the breaks and I am thankful that we were in no part of a road accident.

When we arrived at Judson, parked our car, and the rain was so heavy that we were soaked to the bone in our short dash to Ohio. The experience in the car was scary enough, now I just have to summon up courage, braving the storm, and hope that I do not get hit by lightning. Sarah and I went into the dorms and the RD told us that everyone is in the basement shelter. I quickly grabbed towels for Sarah and I and went down stairs. The sight of people in the basement hall reminded me of a refugee camp. Nemma was worried and thought something might have happened to me as the building where my classes are normally held does not have a basement for shelter. I as teasing her that if anything happens to me, she might need to find a new roommate.

We spend about 30 minutes there until Public Safety called saying that it was okay to return to our rooms, but warned us to come down again immediately if the siren goes off again. I asked Sarah to stay until the rain stops. I got to play hostess, serving her hot green tea and Japanese snacks I got from Mistuwa the day before. Sarah's mom checked in with her every now and then. It seems that a tornado did hit about 2km from where our classroom building was. Close...

There is always a first time for everything. At least now I am able to identify a storm siren and have actually went through the safety procedures. What a night!