Blackout

So my town made national news today! I guess the storm that hit us yesterday really left its mark. 30,000 people without power (including myself) as power lines hang like vines over the fallen trees.
Yep, it was a day like anyother in Michigan: unpredictable weather. It was kind of cloudy and dreary, nothing new, so my two bros, my mom, and myself decided to go out and see a movie. My mom and bro #1 saw Pirates 4, bro #2 and I saw Kung Fu Panda 2 (we already saw Pirates 4, ehhhh it was okay...). KFP2 wasn't half bad, not too long, just 1hr and 1/2. It had it's laughs, not bad really. Anywho, the movies get done around 1600. I'm driving back home and my mom tells me that she needs to go pick something up for work at Big Lots, so I drop the boys off at home and my mom and I head off to the store. Weather is still blah, nothing out of the ordinary. As we get out of the car, I hear a radio saying we're in a Weather Alert. I'm thinking "Oh it must be like a flood warning, the Kalamazoo River is getting really high and it looks like it's going to rain again, so that's probably what it was." Yep, totally wrong. My mom says "No, it's probably like a tornado warning or something." I'm like whatevah, let's just get this shopping done so we don't get stuck in either, though I have always wanted to see a tornado, I just think that would be the most awesome thing EVER! So yep, she get's her items and goes to checkout, when suddenly, the tornado sirens go off!!!!!! My mom looks over at me and I roll my eyes as I already expect what she's going to say "Told ya so, tornado!"
The cashier quickly checks us out and the store manager announces to the customers that they may either leave or get into the center of the store. My mom and I high tail it outta there to the car. "I'm driving" my mother says. "Ah come on mom, it can't be that bad, I'll be fine driving." She snatches the keys from me before I can protest anymore. "I've driven through this kinda weather before, you don't know what you're about to buckle up for." Yeah right mom I mumble in my head and strap in the passenger seat. We pull out of the Big Lots parking lot and head home, it's like a 5 minute drive, not bad. I'm looking out the window for any funnel cloud and spot 2 that could be a potential. I crack a smile Ooooooo I hope I get to see one!!! My mom races on home. In the sky, you see a dark grey blanket just over Battle Creek, it's the strangest thing. Then, all of a sudden WHOOOOSH! Rain fall by the tons, but in the strangest fashion. It's almost like we hit a curtain of rain and then instead of it continually pouring down, it came down in like sheets or curtains, flapping in the wind. You could see each individual curtain of rain hanging from the clouds. It was amazing. My mom takes a hard right to the bridge, hoping to beat the brutal storm home. We peak over the bridge only to see a fireworks display of sparks shooting out of a electrical pole.
"It's okay if it keeps raining like this, that means the tornado hasn't hit yet." My mom reassures me, only to be followed by an abrupt halt in rain. We both looks at each other. "Oh Shi-!" Thunder is pounding, lightening is flashing. My mother pulls the car in 5th gear, with 3 more blocks to go. The rain unexpectedly starts up again. We both breathe. We hit a red light. Seconds pass and then suddenly the red light starts blinking and then POOF, it's gone, lights out. "Well, I guess I can go." My mom shifts the car in first and guns it on home. Almost there, almost there. Trees tops are nearly touching the ground as the violent winds commands them to bow. I pray that our car isn't the next one to kiss the ground. One more block to go. We hit an intersection, can't see if any cars are coming, the wind and rain and pounding so violently. My mom trudges the car on through, almost there, the driveway is up ahead, just gotta pull in. My mom brakes the car to a stop. Where the heck is the driveway!?!?! You couldn't see Rudolf's red nose even if it was right in front of the car window, the wind and rain we thrashing that violently, it was almost as if it was a blizzard. We sit in the street idly for what seemed like seconds and pull in the driveway the instant we catch a glimpse of it. "Ready? One, two..... THREE!" We jump out of the car and race into the house, only to become completely drenched from just the little distance.
A few more minutes pass, and the storm's over. I walk outside onto the front lawn, only to fine half of a tree that's in our backyard to be lying in our front yard, entangled in the power line. All went dark.
Power is out for us and a lot of people I come to find. I wander across the street to help an elderly neighbor out. She's terrified by what happened, and I help give her comfort by offering to go to the store with her to get a lighter so that she may make some tea on her gas stove. We travel out, heading on the highway at a blazing 35MPH (I was afraid for my life). I look around only to see trees fallen everywhere. Thank goodness the highway was backed up and already going at a leisurely pace, since it was down to one lane because fallen trees restricted it to, so the whole 35MPH wasn't as terrifying, but there were moments when I felt, this is the end for me. She learned how to make a Michigan Left that day, all the while cutting other cars off the road. Yes, it was an experience for both of us. We reach the store and I find the appropriate lighter for her to use. Only one dollar. She's in awe. "One dollar?!" Yep, one dollar. We go to checkout, and it rings up at $1.06. What does she do? Pulls out her checkbook. yeah.... I ask her, "You don't have one dollar you can use to pay?" She asks me, "What? Do you have to pay a dollar to use the checkbook?" The cashier and I hold an expression as if we had just hit palm to head. We both explain to her that it is just 1 dollar and 6 cents. Not $106 dollars. "What? Oh my goodness, just one dollar?" Yes, one dollar, just like the first time I told you haha. So she pulls out her neatly folded one dollar bills and pays the cashier, with cash, and we finally are off. Okay, this time, we are NOT taking the highway back, just back roads. I want to live another day. We pull out of the store and she begins to explain to me the route she takes to get here. It's a back road, thank god! We head off, and trees are just down left and right, people are racing around with chain saws trying to clear roads. Residents are standing in the road conducting traffic. It's a mess. Through all of this the elderly woman explains to me how to maneuver around a nonworking stoplight. "You see, you have to stop and wait for people to go, because you just don't know what they're going to do, you just never know. So just wait till it's time you think it's good to go (which seemed like never with her, she seriously would let EVERYONE go and people behind us would start honking and then she'd start going off on a tangent about why people honk)" I nod and agree, all the while wanting to jump out of the car and help these people clear these trees out. But, I gotta get this lady home. We've been told to go this way and that, and she's just completely discombobulated with where she is. I know exactly where we are and we come to find out that all the back roads are blocked off with downed power lines and fallen trees, so the only way back to the city is.... the highway. Crap. Well, we head back to the highway, do another amazing Michigan Left, and head off, burning rubber at 35MPH. We reached the city and approach some nonworking stop lights. She again starts to explain to me what to do. Only her explanation and actually doing this time don't match up. She says to you have to stop, which is true, but what she would actually do is just follow right behind the person in front of her, and not right behind either, she just wouldn't stop at the light, she would just, well, go. Thank goodness people were on high alert and would stop. I counted down how many more downed stop lights to go, and people, I've never been so happy in my life to be home. Through it all, she got a cup of tea. Amen.
That night I was able to entertain my brothers with making a fort and paying some jams with the violin and guitar, my bro #1 blaring on the sax, and my bro #2 going with the harmonica. It was a lot of fun. They at first didn't know what they were going to do without electricity. I give a huff and have flashbacks of my childhood when playing outside was the thing to do.
Ahh well, the electricty is back on now, so it's all good. But that was my adventure of the crazy storm that hit on May 29th 2011. It turns out that it wasn't actually a tornado, but Straight-Line Winds, which are also called Hurricanes of the Prairie. Wow I wrote a lot. So moral of the story, always be the one to drive when going out with an elderly person, it's for the best.

Peace
~annie