Yesterday was a day filled with weather watches and warnings around here. My family members were spread out — except for the pesky neighbors who would’ve blown away along with me. I was home alone with the puppies, and they hunkered down a short distance from me.
It rained early, but then the skies cleared up and it got considerably warmer.
Basically, we were making more fuel for the coming afternoon storms.
By late afternoon, the sky was dark and the temp was near 80°.
When I heard my favorite weatherman say for Austin and Crothersville to “get to a safe spot immediately,” I listened. For the first time in my entire life, I took shelter. I took the puppies to the bathroom and watched local weather on my phone while listening to loud wind blowing outside and hail hitting the building.
I don’t know how long it was before we got the ‘all clear’ — it didn’t seem like a long time — but we were hot. Although safe, I feel like I should turn in my “I’m a Hoosier” badge since I didn’t see anything. I even missed the double rainbow that friends took photos of.
Ben, Perry, and my favorite brother are safe.
Ben was manager on duty at his store and escorted several shoppers and employees to the restrooms for safety. (Then he went outside to watch like a true Hoosier.) Perry was in Henryville where they had very little action. Scott sent me a video from his location in downtown Louisville with sirens blaring.
We’re all good with no property damage and bodies intact. At around 1:30 AM (when I crawled in bed) it was windy and the temperature had dropped about 35°. Last night’s sky had no evening red and we all know what that means.
Now you know: 50-years ago today was the 1974 super outbreak. It remains the most violent tornado outbreak ever recorded with 30, F4/F5 tornadoes confirmed within a 24-hour period. There were a total of 148 tornadoes confirmed and the first F5 of the day was in DePauw, Indiana. The outburst covered more than 2,600 miles, killed 330 people, injured more than 6,000 people, and left thousands homeless.