Tornadoes and Snow Storms: Welcome to the Midwest

A typical day at work involves questions and invoices and budget projections and emails. As an assistant to an executive vice president for a retail chain, my job ranges from mundane typing to complex spreadsheets to disgruntled customers to bonus calculations on an average day.

Today was not an average day. Five minutes into my morning, a phone call stopped all thoughts of invoicing and projecting. One of our stores was potentially in the damage path of one of the tornadoes that whipped through Arkansas late last night.

According to the National Weather Service, more than 70 tornadoes were produced by a strong storm system that moved in from the Plains. Southerly winds provided record high temperatures in some areas. Moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and the unseasonably warm temperatures destabilized the atmosphere, thus fueling the developing thunderstorms. It is estimated that more than fifty people are dead as a result of the deadly twisters spawned by these later winter storms: twenty-six in Tennessee, thirteen in Arkansas, seven in Kentucky, and four in Alabama.

(Source: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/reports/080205_rpts.html )

According to Associated Press, the round of tornadoes that hit the southern states last night was the worst in a twenty-four hour period since May 3, 1999 when at least fifty people died in Oklahoma and Kansas. Additionally, "the death toll ranks among the top 15 from tornado outbreaks since 1950, said Greg Carbin, the warning coordination meteorologist at the center in Norman, Okla., just south of Oklahoma City."

(Source: Antonio Gonzalez, Southern Residents Assess Tornado Damage;

http://www.in-forum.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D8UKVVG00 )

I knew none of this, though, when I reached my office. Our town had been hit by a winter storm and I had spent the morning digging out of our driveway and getting the kids settled in at home for a much-anticipated snow day.

My initial reaction, of course, was to call the store and check on the safety of our employees but the phone system in our stores is cordless and therefore useless without electricity. Power was out; in fact power remains for more than 19,000 customers statewide in Arkansas. (Source: Election Day Tornadoes Kill 11 in Arkansas http://www.kait8.com/global/story.asp?s=7829673)

Not a little panicked, I contacted our personnel department and got cell phone numbers for associates in that area and began dialing. Cell phones, alas, are not without their downfalls and after listening to variations of "All circuits are busy," from several different pre-recorded voices, I gave up and Googled information for the Sheriff's Department in the county. After a very disturbing conversation with the County Morgue (Note to self: Google more carefully next time.) I was transferred to a very nice lady with a very Arkansas accent who said nothing to reassure me and everything to further agitate me. Our store was indeed hit by the tornado; more disturbing, the entire town was devastated. Many people's home were destroyed. Power lines were down. Gas leaks were a concern. No one was being allowed in or out of the town until officials could assess the damage.

It's nearly 5:00 now and information has come in throughout the day. Our store was damaged but not destroyed. The tornado touched down a mere 100 feet from the building. Nearby buildings were reduced to kindling in seconds, but no one was injured in that town. None of our employees lost their homes.

I am about to leave my office after a stressful day of waiting for news, and feel not a little humbled. I grumbled my way into the office this morning, complaining about six inches of snow and getting stuck in the parking lot. Less than 500 miles away, people I knew were dealing with the loss of their homes and livelihoods. I will leave the office now, thankful for the snow I have to clear off my car and the time I have to wait for the ice to melt from my windshield. I will drive across town without silently berating other drivers for their poor winter driving skills. I will enter my warm home, hug my healthy kids, and sit down to watch news updates about the storms. I will do this, thankful that everyone I love is safe, and I will pray for all those in Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama who are not able to say as much right now.