Storms on the outside

I woke up this morning around 2 AM when the power went out. My fan stopped blowing and the sudden lack of white noise slapped me from my sleep. When I looked out my window I couldn't even see the perimeter fence or lights that stand about twenty yards from my window. Sheets of horizontal rain flew by my window from the northwest. This intense rainfall was only visible by the frequent flashes of lightning all around. I heard the rumble of thunder for the firs time in years through those soundproof concrete walls. That's when I knew it was a big one.

In the dayroom I heard the exhaust vent in the ceiling flapping, first infrequently, then louder and in quick intervals. After a few minutes of watching out the window I heard a roar beginning to accompany the clattering. It sounded like a massive waterfall was hitting directly on our roof. That's when I started to get a little scared.

When I was nine or ten years old an F5 tornado hit Jarrell, a town about ten miles from my family's home. The small town was practically removed from existence, everything gone except concrete foundations with short pipes marking former kitchens and bathrooms. That stark environment had left an impression on me ever since.

Not that it would do any good if a tornado did hit, I took my face away from the window, put my head between my knees and prayed for safety. I knew that I would get sucked out the window at any moment and the roaring whistle from the vent was a great indicator that the moment was imminent.

Well, I guess since you're reading this, I wasn't sucked into oblivion by a force of nature. As far as I know, the unit came out unscathed. Others in the area were not so fortunate. One of the ladies in the mailroom said her daughter had her A/C unit come through a kitchen wall after the windows had imploded and shards of glass imbedded themselves in the drywall. Today that house in uninhabitable. Weather can be quite fearsome.