Thursday, January 31, 2013

Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!

So there were five – count 'em – FIVE ! weather warnings on my phone when I woke up this morning. Bob Dylan famously sang, "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows." And he was right: All you had to do was listen.

The sound of the wind is what woke me up. I perhaps have a little post-traumatic stress disorder after going through a derecho last summer. I didn't even know it was called a derecho when I wrote that post. And we're not having another one now, just strong winds from the west, with gusts up to 55 mph. But listening to it is … unsettling.

The weather throughout the Mid-Atlantic and southeastern states has been and continues to be dangerous. Tornadoes wreaked havoc in Georgia yesterday – are my Georgia friends okay?

In addition to the Wind Advisory, we are under three four Flood Warnings (another one just popped up) and a Winter Weather Advisory. The lovely Greenbrier River, the one I walked and jogged along yesterday afternoon, is expected to hit flood stage in Alderson, WV, this morning. (Alderson is where I volunteer on Tuesdays.) Smaller creeks have already flooded and we're supposed to have two to three inches of snow on the ground by tonight.

Poor little daffodils. I also noticed snowdrops and hostas beginning to show their leaves yesterday when I was outside enjoying the 60-degree temperature. In JANUARY!

In addition to the warm temperature, it rained All. Day. Long. Nearly an inch altogether, and steady, so that you couldn't even get out and run between the raindrops. I hopped on the elliptical for an hour and watched Monday's recording of The Biggest Loser. I started watching it sitting on my ass while knitting a mitten, but thinking about Jen's exercise commitment while watching the contestants sweat it out spurred me to actually produce some sweat of my own. So thanks, Jen.

If any of you happen to be in the path of a storm today … seek shelter. Stay safe, y'all!

5 comments:

denise said...

One thing worse than being under tornado warning? Being under tornado warning while only semi-ambulatory on 6th floor of rehab!

3 times yesterday we went to "code black" for short periods of time. They would come around and close all the curtains...guess that was some small protection if windows blew out. Told us if we couldn't get to interior if announcements came to cover ourselves with pillows.

Fortunately it never came to that - although I'm sel

denise said...

Selfsufficient enough that I could have easily moved if need be. Many others here would not be so lucky, which is an bit scary. Weird place to be in a storm!

Debbi said...

I'm really glad to hear from you, Denise. I really can't imagine how frightening that must have been for you and your fellow rehab patients. Good to know you're okay. Thanks for checking in!

Winnie said...

Glad to hear you are ok. The storm is hitting up here this morning. For us, it is wind (lots) and rain. Hubby drove me to the train this am as it was blinding. I am too nervous to drive in this. Lots of people here still have no power from the hurricane and so the power outages will be bad for those folks. Hope your friends are all doing ok.

Debbi said...

Winnie, I had no idea people were still without electricity from Hurricane Sandy. I feel like a pile for complaining about a little wind. Stay safe, girl, and hopefully this won't last too long.

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