I am a 28 year old ADHD Jersey girl who loves politics, movies, music, popular culture, and being Catholic. I'm just here to share about life. Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: April, Chicago, humor, moving, NJ, sirens, thunderstorms, tornado, weather
Before we moved to New Jersey, 13 years ago, we lived in the NW Suburbs of Chicago. While nothing we had in our area compares to the chaos of the weather this spring, I do remember my fair share of tornado sirens.
Spring and summer storms in Illinois are often accompanied by the threat of severe weather like hail and tornadoes. In addition to warnings issued on the radio and television, we had tornado sirens. The sirens would sound and we’d check the TV after heading down to the basement. For all the sirens I heard, I am happy to say that I never once saw a tornado. Nevertheless, the sound of the tornado siren was something ingrained in my head.
We moved to New Jersey in April, 1998. From schools to landscape, the move was a bit of a culture shock. I went from a high school of almost 3,000 students and a marching band of 400+ to a high school with fewer than 1,000 students and barely 50 marching band members; from the flat Land of Lincoln to the foothills of the Appalachians. And don’t even get me started on the Jersey attitude(which I may or may not have picked up on).
Within the first few weeks of us living here I picked up on a lot. I met new people, started to learn the area, and began to adjust. My mother, sister and myself ended up staying with my aunt in her one bedroom apartment while we searched for a house. With my mom and aunt working and my sister in middle school I was often the first one home. And on certain days, extra-curricular activities kept either myself or my sister at school late.
I remember arriving home one particular afternoon during a storm. My sister was going to be late so I was all by myself. As I started to settle in I noticed the sky darkening. Realizing that it was much darker than I felt comfortable with, I turned the on television to The Weather Channel. It took no time for me to see the red and yellow spots headed towards me.
I tried my best to not panic, but the frequency of lightning and the close proximity of the thunder started to get the best of me.
Just when it seemed like things were starting to calm down I heard a siren….not just ANY siren…a TORNADO siren. I was 15 years old and alone in a ground floor one bedroom apartment. I looked around trying scout a place to take cover. I knew to stay away from outer-walls and windows; which left me with one option…the closet under the stairs.
I grabbed the phone and headed into the closet. I stayed in there, probably praying, for almost 10 minutes. When the rain and thunder had left I figured it was safe to emerge. I checked the TV again and saw that the storms had moved past us.
Later, when my family returned home I told them about the storms and the sirens. Before I could tell them that I hid in the closet, my aunt interjected. She told me that New Jersey doesn’t really get tornadoes and that the sirens are for the volunteer fire department.
They must not have noticed me blush, because the conversation ended there. It was a few years before I told them about my brush with the sirens, something I will never live down.
I am truly grateful that there were no tornadoes that day. Today, however, there were over 100 tornadoes reported. With damage still fresh at the STL Airport, storms sprawled across the US, from Oklahoma to Maine. The damage in some areas has been labeled as catastrophic, and lives have been lost. The Red Cross has started a fund to aid in the recovery efforts. Please, if you are able, take a moment, and consider a donation.
My prayers are with all who have lost. Requiescat In Pace.
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