Looks like some really nasty weather stuff in your area.

Please take care and check in when you can.

I'm traveling, so Quirt is home alone with the animals while I watch the weather channel and fret.

He says it looks like the bad stuff will pass him by but he'll probably be up all night making sure of that.

Thanks for thinking of us!

Today was supposed to the worst day of the nasty weather season. The National Weather Service actually issued a PDS warning (Particularly Dangerous Situation). Potential for multiple long-track, violent tornadoes.

So, with storms forecast in the early afternoon and the evening, and with constant warnings that the storms would be moving at 50 MPH and you'd only have a few minutes to seek shelter, I dragged the dogs down to the storm shelter. (It takes a while to get them down those steps, the shepherd has to be carried, at 70 pounds of squirming fur.)

And ... nothing. Literally, nothing. No rain, no wind. The storms slid 50 miles to the west.

At 10PM, the National Weather Service's tornado watch expired.

So, I dragged the dogs back out of the shelter.

At 10:20, the National Weather Service issued a NEW tornado watch, until 5AM.

Sigh.

I will never, ever get the dogs back down into the shelter tonight. If the sirens go off, they'll have to hide in the laundry room, the only interior room in the house.

It'll be a long night.

This is a new one on me. I've heard of tornado watches. I've heard of tornado warnings.

In Leach, Oklahoma (far, far from here, the eastern side of the state), there was a tornado EMERGENCY issued tonight.

Huh?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/..._tornado_emergencies

You learn something new every day.

Oh, and to add to the fun, one of the weather forecasters noted that every single river in Oklahoma is under flood warning tonight.

Stay safe, Quirt!

So the real question: If the tornado comes, do you leave the dogs in the laundry room and go down in the shelter yourself? Or do you weather the storm with your dogs?

Hard questions!

quote:

Originally posted by AdagioM:
Stay safe, Quirt!

So the real question: If the tornado comes, do you leave the dogs in the laundry room and go down in the shelter yourself? Or do you weather the storm with your dogs?

Hard questions!

That's why I put them in the shelter early. I simply cannot negotiate all of them down into the shelter in a hurry. The shorthair pointer will go down on her own, but slowly ... the shepherd has to be carried and fights every step of the way, including hooking her paws through the stairs to stop me.

I got them down there in a hurry once (when the tornado took off a corner of the casino two miles away). But it's dangerous.

If I can't get them down into the shelter, the cats and I will have to go down into the shelter on our own. Sigh.

Wow. What does your storm shelter look like? Do you have to go outside to get to it?

quote:

Originally posted by jodi:
Wow. What does your storm shelter look like? Do you have to go outside to get to it?

It's built into the floor of the garage. It's basically just a concrete box with a set of metal stairs and a light bulb. It's about 6 feet by four feet.

quote:

Originally posted by QuirtEvans:

quote:

Originally posted by jodi:
Wow. What does your storm shelter look like? Do you have to go outside to get to it?

It's built into the floor of the garage. It's basically just a concrete box with a set of metal stairs and a light bulb. It's about 6 feet by four feet.

Sounds like my office cubicle cell.

OTOH, if you weathered the storm in the laundry room you could probably get a few loads of wash done while you wait it out.

quote:

Originally posted by QuirtEvans:

quote:

Originally posted by jodi:
Wow. What does your storm shelter look like? Do you have to go outside to get to it?

It's built into the floor of the garage. It's basically just a concrete box with a set of metal stairs and a light bulb. It's about 6 feet by four feet.

That makes me feel claustrophobic just thinking about it.