Paying Attention to Weather Warnings!
Currently at the Rafter Jar Bar Ranch
71 degrees, mostly cloudy Low 57
80% chance of rain--thunderstorms during the evening
We have had interesting weather this trip! We left Cape Girardeau, MO early to "get ahead" of a rain storm, only to have rain follow us, it seems, throughout our travels and stay in Illinois and on!
We experienced our first tornado siren at the Sioux Falls KOA, about 1 AM, in the pouring down rain... We had been watching the severe weather approaching, so before we went to bed pulled in all but one of the slides, had our "to-go" bag out, and raincoats....so piled out of bed, gathered up the very sleepy dog, and followed the crowd to the nearest bathroom, even tho' we had read the park brochure which stated that the "reinforced steel pavilion was the structure to go to in a storm." We were just being good sheep! When the KOA Workkamper came down and announced that we should go to the steel reinforced structure, we joined the troop up the hill through the driving rain to the steel structure....! Rupert really thought we had lost it! "What in the world were we doing out in the pouring down rain, in the dark, running around?"
We wondered the same! After seeing the devastation from Illinois to RVs in campgrounds, we knew we had to leave our coach and seek shelter. Was it an easy decision? No. Were we scared? Yes! Along with the others who gathered in that steel reinforced structure. Lindy remembers looking at the warning on her phone, zooming in so that we could see that the warning boundary was west of our location, and wondered why the phone was shaking...! She was sharing that with a mom of a couple of young girls. Lindy could not let those girls see her hand shaking...! Regardless of what our phones "said", we responded to the siren this first time! So we waited along with the rest. In about 25 minutes, the workkamper announced that the warning was cancelled, so we trekked back down to our rig, thankfully clambering in, and falling back into bed.
What is worth noting about the Sioux Falls KOA were the workkampers, going to each camper: tent or RV, and alerting each to the warning, and the need to move to shelter.
For those of you who have experienced this, you understand the feeling. We still do not, and are unable to effectively describe it. Only that now we know a tornado warning is "real," it can happen, and a siren means just that. So get with the program! We did! We will! Our to-go bag shall remain ready, for any emergency as we travel, and we shall heed all warnings!
Oh, and perhaps we shall continue to adjust our travel plans ensuring that we avoid trouble areas!
We continue to enjoy the Black Hills of South Dakota, especially being on the Mickelson Trail. More on our activities in the Black Hills later!
Roving Riders, appreciating the full time life in our house on wheels, and those who help make it the best it can be.
71 degrees, mostly cloudy Low 57
80% chance of rain--thunderstorms during the evening
We have had interesting weather this trip! We left Cape Girardeau, MO early to "get ahead" of a rain storm, only to have rain follow us, it seems, throughout our travels and stay in Illinois and on!
We experienced our first tornado siren at the Sioux Falls KOA, about 1 AM, in the pouring down rain... We had been watching the severe weather approaching, so before we went to bed pulled in all but one of the slides, had our "to-go" bag out, and raincoats....so piled out of bed, gathered up the very sleepy dog, and followed the crowd to the nearest bathroom, even tho' we had read the park brochure which stated that the "reinforced steel pavilion was the structure to go to in a storm." We were just being good sheep! When the KOA Workkamper came down and announced that we should go to the steel reinforced structure, we joined the troop up the hill through the driving rain to the steel structure....! Rupert really thought we had lost it! "What in the world were we doing out in the pouring down rain, in the dark, running around?"
We wondered the same! After seeing the devastation from Illinois to RVs in campgrounds, we knew we had to leave our coach and seek shelter. Was it an easy decision? No. Were we scared? Yes! Along with the others who gathered in that steel reinforced structure. Lindy remembers looking at the warning on her phone, zooming in so that we could see that the warning boundary was west of our location, and wondered why the phone was shaking...! She was sharing that with a mom of a couple of young girls. Lindy could not let those girls see her hand shaking...! Regardless of what our phones "said", we responded to the siren this first time! So we waited along with the rest. In about 25 minutes, the workkamper announced that the warning was cancelled, so we trekked back down to our rig, thankfully clambering in, and falling back into bed.
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| Our site at Sioux Falls KOA |
What is worth noting about the Sioux Falls KOA were the workkampers, going to each camper: tent or RV, and alerting each to the warning, and the need to move to shelter.
For those of you who have experienced this, you understand the feeling. We still do not, and are unable to effectively describe it. Only that now we know a tornado warning is "real," it can happen, and a siren means just that. So get with the program! We did! We will! Our to-go bag shall remain ready, for any emergency as we travel, and we shall heed all warnings!
Oh, and perhaps we shall continue to adjust our travel plans ensuring that we avoid trouble areas!
We continue to enjoy the Black Hills of South Dakota, especially being on the Mickelson Trail. More on our activities in the Black Hills later!
Roving Riders, appreciating the full time life in our house on wheels, and those who help make it the best it can be.
Weather is the worst part of fulltiming.
ReplyDeleteIt is the worst and the best for sure! Kind of depends on the adjective describing it! Raises the importance of being "weather aware!"
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