The Storm

Yesterday our city experienced a severe storm; it has yet to be called a tornado, but winds were incredibly strong.  I was in my classroom planning when the sirens went off; moments later we got the call to move to our designated shelter location.  The energy was different as both students and teachers could tell this wasn't just a drill.  We ended up sitting in a small hallway together for nearly an hour as warnings popped up on phones, then changed, then got pushed back.  A few students got upset, and some enjoyed the adventure of missing class.  We did our best to keep everyone calm and entertained, including playing 20 Questions and Guess the Animal.  Our lights went out a few times but never for long, and our emergency lights always came through as needed.  Finally, stiff and sore, we managed to get ourselves back to class and to some semblance of schedule.  After that hour spent with students I realized I focused all of my mental energy on them; it pained me that Little Man wasn't my first thought, but I guess I am relieved that I was able to trust that those watching him were keeping him safe so I could focus on what was in front of me.  The emotional part of me feels awful that he wasn't my first concern, but the logical part of me recognizes why that would have made things worse during the confusion.  Once we got the all clear I immediately felt all of the panic my brain withheld from me the hour before.  My phone's reception is always a little spotty in the school building anyways, but the storm caused a temporary disruption.  It took awhile to receive or send any messages to check on others or to hear from daycare.  One of the first texts that came through was from the neighbors, notifying us that they had lost part of their fence but that from what they could see our house seemed ok.  Husband was eventually able to run home and check on things; despite numerous large trees down mere houses or blocks down, all of ours were intact and we had power.  Friends weren't so lucky and are now in the process of getting it restored and all that goes with a prolonged outage.  I finally saw a video from daycare, showing Little Man and his friends happily sitting in the bathroom during the storm.  As he and I drove home yesterday he remarked about "the tornado" and all of the downed trees.  It saddened me that he knew that, but as we also found with our own students pretending that nothing was happening is perhaps the common instinct but not the right decision; kids see right through that.  Husband assured me multiple times that we were ok, but today as our schools are closed due to continued power outages it's hard not to think about what could have been.  

The cat certainly isn't sure about things; she hasn't left my side all day, and the sound of the garbage truck was quite startling to her.  Traffic lights are still out, and there are still thousands waiting for power to come back on and calling insurance companies.  I sent a note to daycare to thank them for loving on Little Man while I had to stay and love on others' children instead of my own.  Another round of storms -- not as extreme, but potential high winds -- are forecast for later today.  As someone who typically watches the weather only to know what shoes to wear for the day, I'm suddenly paying a lot more attention.  This shouldn't be new to me; I grew up here and am quite familiar with the eccentricities of the weather.  We've even had to take Little Man and the cat into the bathroom a few times for warnings that have turned out to be nothing.  Even though I wasn't technically impacted yesterday and was not hurt or even inconvenienced, I feel for those who were and am already worried about the next time.

I am truly appreciative towards all the people caring for others during the storm yesterday, as well as being thankful for those who are helping with what comes next.