# Of Storms and Gales



## StarlingWings

Hello, hello. I just wanted to elaborate on the fact mentioned in my last thread, Welcome to our newest family member!

Well, yesterday was mum's birthday, and we all were together and we were to have a grand feast in honor of the occasion.

As it happens, we were just about to begin arranging our meal when the city sirens went off. Now, the day was indeed blustery, but nothing seemed amiss, and the only reason the sirens could have gone off is because of a flash flood, a fire, or a tornado. 
Well, fire was ruled out pretty quickly, and so was flash flood, because it hadn't rained enough for that, and besides, in 2013 there was a devastating flood (which was on national news) and there weren't any sirens for _that_. 
We dropped everything and ran amok like beheaded poultry, gathering the savings, water bottles, and flashlights. I ran over to get Mallorn, who--the nerve!--was chirping every time she saw a bolt of lightning in the window. Well, even Loki can't make the lightning kneel, as exemplified in the Avengers, much less a small, turquoise and yellow budgie with an attitude and an aptitude for chewing things. 
So down to the basement it was, and she cared not at all for the storm.

Now, on the other hand, as detailed earlier, the newest member of the family, Tilda, had just gotten over her "pet store anxiety", it being nigh upon the second day of her residence with us, and it was a little frightening getting her down to the basement. It was slightly cooler, cluttered, and we all were acting quite alarmed, justly, I think. She did fine, though, and I think my sister was more afraid than her little dove Tilda 

She made sure to put her on one side of the basement, and Mallorn was on the other, to recreate a semblance of quarantine while we may.

Once we were all carefully situated in the basement, birthday dinner forgotten upstairs, I turned on my MacBook and Dad had his tablet where we watched a live weather stream, with the warnings flashing, the weather lady imploring all civilians to remain indoors, and the wind and sirens alike howling outside our house.

As Mallorn was commenting on the lack of tasteful decorating in the basement and the rest of us were panicking, the sirens went off, but hail, about the size of a round penny, began to fall on the roof. The sky was a terrible sort of shade, and by looking out the bare windows in the basement and craning our necks, we could dimly see that the sky was in evident turmoil, by the looks of things.

To elaborate, our house is situated by a highway, the same highway which the redundant weather reporter announced that there was a tornado right nearby. 
And of course, the immediate weather wasn't helping our fears, either. 
At any rate, after the woman on the live weather stream said the tornado had passed, we went upstairs, and hardly after we looked outside, the sirens began to wail anew, filling the damp air with a chorus of warning voices.

Back to the basement! Tilda we left up here, as another round of confinement in the basement would have stressed her, but Mallorn came with me, as she quite enjoyed, I daresay, the veritable panic which most of us were in. At this point, I didn't believe for one second we were in any danger, and incidentally, we weren't, now that the incessant weather lady announced that the sirens were for a flash flood this time.

At any rate, then the rain started. We had been caught in the "eye of the storm", per say, so although the wind and clouds were moving at unnatural speeds, the hail was small and the rain minimal. 
Now, the skies unleashed an unprecedented deluge, complete with a fanfare of thunder so repetitive it sounded like a reenactment of the Civil War, cannons included. 
Mallorn thought it was hilarious, I think, and sat on her rainbow rope perch singing quietly to herself songs about rain and flowers, or something. I thought the thunder would scare even her, quite honestly, but she would actually chirp along!

Finally, amidst the pouring rain and flickering electricity, we sat down to a birthday dinner at the late time of 9:00, which made definitely for a very memorable June 4th indeed!

Here's a picture of the sky!


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## Kate C

They sure look like hail clouds. They have a distinctive green tinge about them. Glad everyone is ok. I can only imagine what it was like. I seriously hate wind, it really sets my nerves on edge.


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## StarlingWings

Kate C said:


> They sure look like hail clouds. They have a distinctive green tinge about them. Glad everyone is ok. I can only imagine what it was like. I seriously hate wind, it really sets my nerves on edge.


Thanks, it was pretty scary!


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## FaeryBee

*I'm glad everyone made it through the storm without any damage to life, limb or property! I loved your account of the events -- you write very well and have a gift for relating stories.

I grew up in the midwest and we had quite severe thunderstorms, hail-storms and occasional tornados in that area.

The sky always seemed to get a sickly green tinge to it as a precursor to tornados and I was taught at a young age to recognize that phenomena. I was also taught what to do if I was outside, saw a funnel cloud and couldn't make it safely back to our house. 

Occasionally my parents would make me go down to the basement, but I specifically remember them taking me out on the front porch on more than one occaision to watch a funnel cloud until it was deemed a bit too close to remain outdoors.

Mallorn sounds like she was quite a little character through the whole adventure. I bet she wonders when she's going to get that much "applause" from the sky again since she loved the thunder. *


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## StarlingWings

FaeryBee said:


> *I'm glad everyone made it through the storm without any damage to life, limb or property! I loved your account of the events -- you write very well and have a gift for relating stories.
> 
> I grew up in the midwest and we had quite severe thunderstorms, hail-storms and occasional tornados in that area.
> 
> The sky always seemed to get a sickly green tinge to it as a precursor to tornados and I was taught at a young age to recognize that phenomena. I was also taught what to do if I was outside, saw a funnel cloud and couldn't make it safely back to our house.
> 
> Occasionally my parents would make me go down to the basement, but I specifically remember them taking me out on the front porch on more than one occaision to watch a funnel cloud until it was deemed a bit too close to remain outdoors.
> 
> Mallorn sounds like she was quite a little character through the whole adventure. I bet she wonders when she's going to get that much "applause" from the sky again since she loved the thunder. *


Thank you, Deb! You made me blush 

I imagine when tornadoes are a regular occurrence you learn to recognize when it's safe or severe! 
Even though the obnoxious weather reported repeated "Do not document the storm, stay in doors!" I couldn't resist a quick snap :laugh:

Mallorn definitely enjoyed it, silly thing. 
Thanks for stopping by!


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## Jonah

Well if there were a budgie that could make the thunder and lightening kneel, it would be Princess Mallorn...

Glad you all are safe....

*Auntie Em:* _"Dorothy....Dorothy....there's a storm, get in the cellar Dorothy"_

*Dorothy:*_"Toto....Toto....Totooooooo"_


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## StarlingWings

Jonah said:


> Well if there were a budgie that could make the thunder and lightening kneel, it would be Princess Mallorn...
> 
> Glad you all are safe....
> 
> *Auntie Em:* _"Dorothy....Dorothy....there's a storm, get in the cellar Dorothy"_
> 
> *Dorothy:*_"Toto....Toto....Totooooooo"_


Haha, probably 

Thanks, Randy!


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## Brienne

Oh My...pleased you all came through this unscathed...love how some animals are oblivious to the goings-on around them...Princess Mallron seems 'bomb proof', which is good. Thank you for sharing, like Deb mentioned you wrote and conveyed your story very well.


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## Niamhf

Wow what an adventure! And despite the panic I love how you were still able to bring humour into it😊 
Mallorn is ready to take on the world and poor Tilda just thinks she landed in a mad house! 

Glad everyone was okay.


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## StarlingWings

Brienne said:


> Oh My...pleased you all came through this unscathed...love how some animals are oblivious to the goings-on around them...Princess Mallron seems 'bomb proof', which is good. Thank you for sharing, like Deb mentioned you wrote and conveyed your story very well.


Thank you, Mallorn certainly _seems_ bomb-proof!  
Glad you enjoyed it and thank you for the compliment 



Niamhf said:


> Wow what an adventure! And despite the panic I love how you were still able to bring humour into it&#128522;
> Mallorn is ready to take on the world and poor Tilda just thinks she landed in a mad house!
> 
> Glad everyone was okay.


Thank you Niamhf, I'm glad you enjoyed it  
Mallorn is quite the crusader :laughing: I agree, Tilda is probably very alarmed at the prospect of having to live with us!


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## Brienne

You're Welcome


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## mekat

I'm glad everyone is okay. I was in an F4 in 2011. It was a direct hit and it wiped out our entire house except the basement. The F4 killed 10 people in my town but had a death toll of around 49 or so (was a long tract tornado). 

Everyone should be dressed have sturdy shoes on and have their purses/wallets and cell phones. Bicycle helmets will protect you from potential head injury. Basically if you get a direct hit the last thing you want to do is stay in a building with questionable integrity so you need to be ready to leave once the danger is over. 

All emergency supplies should already be stashed in your shelter area. I use backpacks for supplies because both hands will be needed to climb over debris. The other thing I would do is make sure you are in a either a reinforced corner or under a table. Something that will protect you in case of a collapse. My neighbor 2 houses down sheltered in his basement and was crushed when the house collapsed on him. Also if you have young children please make sure they have identification on them in case of separation (can easily happen in the middle of mass chaos). Also a weather radio with a loud siren in case a tornado should hit in the middle of the night while you are asleep (another local horror story behind that piece of advice from another tornado).

Sorry, I don't mean to lecture but I have seen what can happen first hand if not prepared properly. Far too many people died in that F4. I never want to see that many injuries and death again.


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## RavensGryf

Wow! So much excitement.. It's a birthday your mother shall never forget! 
I'm glad to hear that everyone was safe and sound in the end, and your family got to celebrate with a late dinner after all . I'm glad Mallorn took it well. 

We don't even have basements here! Earthquakes are quite scary though... and we're well overdue too. I hate the thought of that!


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## aluz

Despite the big scare, It's good to know there was no damage from the storm and everyone, pets included are fine. It's also a plus the way Mallorn reacted to the noisy storm and even sang along with it!


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## nuxi

Wow,that's scary! I'm glad everyone is safe! Thanks for sharing the photo!


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## StarlingWings

mekat said:


> I'm glad everyone is okay. I was in an F4 in 2011. It was a direct hit and it wiped out our entire house except the basement. The F4 killed 10 people in my town but had a death toll of around 49 or so (was a long tract tornado).
> 
> Everyone should be dressed have sturdy shoes on and have their purses/wallets and cell phones. Bicycle helmets will protect you from potential head injury. Basically if you get a direct hit the last thing you want to do is stay in a building with questionable integrity so you need to be ready to leave once the danger is over.
> 
> All emergency supplies should already be stashed in your shelter area. I use backpacks for supplies because both hands will be needed to climb over debris. The other thing I would do is make sure you are in a either a reinforced corner or under a table. Something that will protect you in case of a collapse. My neighbor 2 houses down sheltered in his basement and was crushed when the house collapsed on him. Also if you have young children please make sure they have identification on them in case of separation (can easily happen in the middle of mass chaos). Also a weather radio with a loud siren in case a tornado should hit in the middle of the night while you are asleep (another local horror story behind that piece of advice from another tornado).
> 
> Sorry, I don't mean to lecture but I have seen what can happen first hand if not prepared properly. Far too many people died in that F4. I never want to see that many injuries and death again.


Wow! That's a lot of good information  So sorry to hear of your experience with that tornado, that must have been terrifying!  
Goodness, that sounds like a nightmare. Thank you for sharing!



RavensGryf said:


> Wow! So much excitement.. It's a birthday your mother shall never forget!
> I'm glad to hear that everyone was safe and sound in the end, and your family got to celebrate with a late dinner after all . I'm glad Mallorn took it well.
> 
> We don't even have basements here! Earthquakes are quite scary though... and we're well overdue too. I hate the thought of that!


Yeah, to say the least!  Do you live in California? I know the San Andreas is waaaay overdue--and it's apparently linked to Yellowstone so it could trigger a mega-earthquake that even us Coloradans would feel!! 
Natural disasters are scary because you never know when they will hit.



aluz said:


> Despite the big scare, It's good to know there was no damage from the storm and everyone, pets included are fine. It's also a plus the way Mallorn reacted to the noisy storm and even sang along with it!


Yes, I agree! I guess Mallorn wanted to keep up everyone's spirits 
Thank you, Ana 


nuxi said:


> Wow,that's scary! I'm glad everyone is safe! Thanks for sharing the photo!


It was, rather  Me too, haha. Glad you liked the photo!


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## RavensGryf

I do live in California (but am considering for the first time in my life) leaving! Super over crowded, too expensive, and bad economy... decent weather though . Although it gets over 100 degrees in the summer, which is way too hot for me, but I guess it's still not as bad as it can get in other places.

I guess if the BIG ONE hits, anywhere in SoCal would not be safe if it's so big it's felt in Colorado !


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