Mood:  a-ok

Yesterday and last night our area of Kansas was hit by VERY severe weather. I left work early at the behest of my co-workers and I am glad that I did. I faced 30-40 mph headwinds on the drive home and it was extremely difficult to keep the Pathfinder in my own lane. It was also hard to see as the wind was blowing so much dirt around that I couldn't see much more than two or three car lengths in front of me.

Thunderstorms rocked us all last night. Between 6pm and 6:30pm sirens went off in Wichita (we saw this on TV) as rotation and a down spout was sighted just south of Haysville moving towards Downtown Wichita. Winds were clocked at 80 - 90 miles an hour and the storm, known as a Shelf Cloud, known in this area as a SLC (Scary Looking Cloud), was spotted moving 53 miles an hour, covering ground quickly. Just as it was to hit Wichita, an emergency screen appeared on our TV. Not just a beeping, not a scrolling message at the bottom...A FULL SCREEN red message with white lettering. It said Wellington residents move to emergency shelters now. A voice came on saying that all Wellington residents must move immediately to shelters, do not call 911 there is no time. We both looked at each other stood up and muted the TV trying to hear sirens over the tremendously loud wind.

Not able to hear any sirens, Matt when and put on his jeans and boots, and I put on my shoes and grabbed my purse and the new camera (for documentation purposes). We grabbed the phone, a flashlight and two chairs then went into the basement to wait. Our basement is small, but could easily accommadate a dozen or so people. Matt swept the basement and lit candles while I waited nervously. There was a crack where the old stone foundation and new walls meet that started to seep water. It was pouring like mad outside, like a firehouse being turned on the house. We have a pair of very small windows (kind of like the windows between the cab of a truck and its shell) so we could see outside.

We waited for 30 minutes, called CJ (since she has a TV in her basement) to find out what was going on. Still no sirens for Wellington. We left the basement and I watched TV for further reports for another 30 minutes before it seemed that everything was going to be okay.

Here is what the Wichita Eagle has to say about it http://www.kansas.com/690/story/425601.html

Here is a link to the Wellington Daily news:

http://www.wellingtondailynews.com/

I am very thankful that we are safe. I have yet to assess the damage to the ourside of the house and our trees. Here's hoping that things aren't too bad. Gotta love the weather in May and June...ack Tornado season sucks.