From Wednesday on, this has been a bad week for weather. Wednesday morning, the tornado alarms went off. My resident advisers rounded up us dorm occupants at 4 o'clock and led us to take refuge in the second floor hallway. Our dorm has a walk-out first floor with a long glass wall, smart eh?
The half of the hall occupied by us girls was composed of either grumbling medusas in facial masks or terror-stricken damsels in distress. On the guys' side, although all was quite dark, some voices chimed out "Kum ba yah" and songs in the same genre. At 6:30 am we were allowed to return to our beds. When I reached my room, it took me a moment to realize the blue glow in my room came from the rising sun.
Classes were canceled ONLY because the campus had no power and I spent most of the day tucked away in a friend's basement, while the clouds waged war outside. I had little to no cell phone coverage and having nearly all my relatives call to check on me was not making my day any easier.
Later on, about 5 or 6 pm, the storm looked clear enough and I called my relatives to get a head count. I was very thankful no one was harmed. At least a dozen tornadoes have torn through the south, killing 128 persons and injuring many more.
Entire cities were wiped off the map, leaving so many people with little more than the clothes on their back. I dropped to my knees to thank God I was unscathed, and that my family and friends had survived the night.
I even got calls from people I hadn't seen since high school. It was sad, kind of, to think it took a vicious night of tornadoes to bring someone who used to be a close friend back into my life, however brief a moment.
In Madison, there will be no power for a week. The city has instituted a dawn to dusk curfew. My family has escaped to Athens to stay with relatives. Gas prices are likely to sky rocket, using this storm as an excuse.
My thoughts and prayers are with those who have lost.
