Well, That Was Terrifying

[Sugar Magnolia]

Nasty.weather from Tropical Storm Andrea. We just finished lunch and.were getting.washed up. Simultaneously, the weather radio goes off, our cell phones go off. "Urgent warning. Tornado and land-falling water spouts on the ground . Immediate danger. Seek shelter in an interior room immediately." Thank goodness.only.8 kids today. We pulled in the pantry area,, ready to dive into our closet under the stairwell. I tried to be cool and make it seem like a fun game. The Littles were fine. The Bigs, terrified. We talk about safety a lot here, so the older kids knew exactly what that weather radio.siren meant. They started crying. So the Littles.start crying. The wind howled and my 100 year old.center.shook.a bit. In the closet we go.....now we are all scared and I'm having trouble being "cool" myself.

And then it.stopped. And was over. All is quiet. . But gee, that totally.****ed.

[daycarediva]

SOOO glad you are all ok!!! big (((((((((((((((HUGS)))))))))))) to you and the kids!!!

[Play Care]

:hug:

Thank goodness everyone is okay!

[Sugar Magnolia]

Scratch that. Going off.again.

[Heidi]

Hang in there, Sugar!

[bunnyslippers]

I would probably still be quivering in the closet! Glad you were able to keep your head about you, and that all is well. So frightening!

[lovemykidstoo]

Oh my gosh, I hope you're okay!! Where are you located?

[MsLaura529]

Good luck with the rest of the day.

[Sugar Magnolia]

It hit Myakka. That is east of here. We are.napping with shoes on today.. ...well....attempting to nap. Water spout just offshore. We are only blocks.away from Sarasota Bay..

[Sugar Magnolia]

Oh my gosh, I hope you're okay!! Where are you located?

Downtown Sarasota. Gulf coast, hour south of Tampa.

[craftymissbeth]

:hug:

Hang in there!

:hug:

[daycarediva]

Downtown Sarasota. Gulf coast, hour south of Tampa.

I used to live in St. Pete! Pretty area! Stay safe!!!

[Laurel]

Nasty.weather from Tropical Storm Andrea. We just finished lunch and.were getting.washed up. Simultaneously, the weather radio goes off, our cell phones go off. "Urgent warning. Tornado and land-falling water spouts on the ground . Immediate danger. Seek shelter in an interior room immediately." Thank goodness.only.8 kids today. We pulled in the pantry area,, ready to dive into our closet under the stairwell. I tried to be cool and make it seem like a fun game. The Littles were fine. The Bigs, terrified. We talk about safety a lot here, so the older kids knew exactly what that weather radio.siren meant. They started crying. So the Littles.start crying. The wind howled and my 100 year old.center.shook.a bit. In the closet we go.....now we are all scared and I'm having trouble being "cool" myself.

And then it.stopped. And was over. All is quiet. . But gee, that totally.****ed.

Oh no! What part of Florida are you in? I'm in the Ft. Lauderdale area. We had to stay in because of tornado watches today and have been having rain off and on for weeks now but that is about all here.

Just a question. I used to have a weather alert radio that I bought and then the State of Florida sent all childcare homes in our area one (without us asking) several years ago. I used to swear by them in Ohio but, down here, they were annoying because they'd go off every day citing things at sea. We are about 11 miles from the ocean. But with all the marine warnings for boaters it was a daily distraction when we have so few tornados here and the ones we do have in this area usually aren't the catastrophic kind. We have hurricanes for that! We get plenty of warnings for hurricanes though.

That was years ago though. Does yours have something where it lets you turn off marine warnings or are you more inland so that doesn't affect you?

We have a ranch style house so no under the stairs. We'd have to go into the bathroom or into a closet. When I lived in Ohio 16 years ago there were big tornados and it seems like the bathrooms were the safest places.

Glad everyone is okay! I have it in my contract that I will take a day off if there is a hurricane on the way. I can't believe I had to add that but one year parents actually brought their kiddies so they could prepare 'their' house. As you know, things sell out quickly like batteries and water (although now we plan ahead better). Luckily my adult children were able to help out. No more though!

I'm glad you are all okay. That is scary stuff!!!

Laurel

Edited to add: Oh, I saw you already gave your location.

[Hunni Bee]

Please be safe. Praying for yall.

[Sugar Magnolia]

Oh no! What part of Florida are you in? I'm in the Ft. Lauderdale area. We had to stay in because of tornado watches today and have been having rain off and on for weeks now but that is about all here.

Just a question. I used to have a weather alert radio that I bought and then the State of Florida sent all childcare homes in our area one (without us asking) several years ago. I used to swear by them in Ohio but, down here, they were annoying because they'd go off every day citing things at sea. We are about 11 miles from the ocean. But with all the marine warnings for boaters it was a daily distraction when we have so few tornados here and the ones we do have in this area usually aren't the catastrophic kind. We have hurricanes for that! We get plenty of warnings for hurricanes though.

That was years ago though. Does yours have something where it lets you turn off marine warnings or are you more inland so that doesn't affect you?

We have a ranch style house so no under the stairs. We'd have to go into the bathroom or into a closet. When I lived in Ohio 16 years ago there were big tornados and it seems like the bathrooms were the safest places.

Glad everyone is okay! I have it in my contract that I will take a day off if there is a hurricane on the way. I can't believe I had to add that but one year parents actually brought their kiddies so they could prepare 'their' house. As you know, things sell out quickly like batteries and water (although now we plan ahead better). Luckily my adult children were able to help out. No more though!

I'm glad you are all okay. That is scary stuff!!!

Laurel

Edited to add: Oh, I saw you already gave your location.

Laurel, I don't think you can turn off marine alerts. Yes, they.are annoying. We keep it upstairs in our center, it is loud enough that my husband can hear it (I can't, hard of hearing), but the cell phone warnings are just as effective as the weather.radio.
Yep, it is my free weather radio. Nice of them to send them out.