nixtress's Diaryland Diary

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I'm not Dorothy and this isn't Kansas, damnit.

HOLY MACKEREL. That's my best reaction right now. My nerves are settling down and that's my feeling at this time.

Driving back from Wooster, just about an hour ago, we were suddenly hit by tremendous winds and pelting rain. And the rain was ...beautiful. The drops were huge and it was like watching drops of mercury fall. The winds were awful, to the point I literally had to slow to a crawl, not registering on the speedometer, to keep from blowing off the road. And then all of a sudden there was hardly any wind and the rain shut off like someone turning off a spigot. I was still going slowly and it's a good thing I was because stretched across the road just a few yards ahead were powerlines. I stopped and debated whether to even get out of the van, then opted to turn on my hazard lights and sit tight. The dimwit who came from the other direction wasn't paying any attention to my flashing of high beams or hazard lights and drove right through the fricking lines! Her car snapped them in half and slammed a piece of wood into her windshield, setting off both of her airbags. She finally came to a stop and crawled out of her car and we spent the next several minutes taking inventory of vehicle and persons. The boys were flipped out, not sure what was going on. I tried to reassure them as best I could and then tried to figure out what to do. One of the people who lived close used their cell phone and called emergency personnel not only for the powerlines but also because the other girl thought her car was on fire.(It turned out to be powder from inside the airbags).

She called people she knew who showed up and helped her decide what to do with her car, and the fire dept. showed up to take care of the lines(phone lines) and to also check on a house next to where all this happened. It had sustained some heavy damage due to the wind, etc. The road was finally cleared and we were able to finish our journey home. My nerves were all jangly and made even worse by coming home and watching the weather channel. It wasn't just high winds--we missed driving through the middle of a tornado by minutes. It completely flattened a huge new complex built by a shipping company there in Wooster, not two miles from where we were driving, did further damage elsewhere and has their law enforcement agencies and emergency crews pretty well tied up. It went right through where I stopped for the powerlines.

I'm either cursed or really flippin' lucky as this is the second tornado I've been through in the last 2.5 years. The boys took some calming but have been tucked into bed and are heading into sleep. The last one went right through our backyard but I have to say, I was more scared by the thought of driving through one.

On that note, I'm going to drink some tea and peruse diaries in an effort to chill some more.

Sleep well, everyone.

N.

8:04 p.m. - 2003-11-12

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