Those devastating November storms that had their way with some downstate communities.
First, thanks to those of you who checked in regarding the well-being of me and mine. As luck would have it, we were on vacation in Toledo OH and still there sleeping when the worst storms rolled through downstate IL. By the time we were on the road headed back to Chicago after a weekend getaway, we were able to track the event on radar (go modern cell phones) and to hear the reports of the (temporary) evacuation of Soldier Field (first, Wrigley gets evacuated during the PJam concert ... now this ... things happen in threes people ... don't say you weren't warned). We drove through that same storm while on the interstate around LaPorte IN that afternoon, and it was windy (the rest stop Hardees had just had its power restored when we stopped for lunch) and it was buckets of rain dumping down from the skies all at once (as opposed to nice little raindrops that the windshield wipers could handle) ... but it was short lived at that point and was uneventful that far north. (But it was scary to see the seasoned folks pulled off to the side of the road under a bridge being good tornadians ...)
Second, in the days since the storm [due to a backlog in posts from being on that vacation, I'm *actually* posting this three days later], there have been some very heartwarming stories (communities pulling together, a dog left for dead that was found alive in the rubble, people posting random-personal-effects wreckage that was blown 120 miles into someone else's back yard).
All that said, to the guy who pronounced every religious passage whilst filming the oncoming storm from his window, even the God(s) to whom you were praying would have said "get to the basement, you dumb sh!t" if the wind hadn't been blowing so hard that you could have heard the small still voices... so let that be the lesson for any future i-witnesses who are tempted to abandon common sense.
That snark aside (hey, I gotta be me ...), our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of those who lost loved ones, and to the other survivors who are now tasked with rebuilding at the onset of winter. God bless.
AT LEAST THE FANS BEHAVED:
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-11-17/news/chi-fans-stay-levelheaded-at-soldier-field-20131117_1_evacuation-order-bears-soldier-field
TORNADO DOG SURVIVES!:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-tornado-dogs-met-1120-20131120,0,4718504.story
YOU'VE SEEN THIS BY NOW, RIGHT?:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/17/us/irpt-incredible-illinois-tornado/
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