Yes, that was the way they were describing the storms that were moving into Eastern Nebraska on Saturday night…”The Storm of the Century”.
This particular tornado watch was being referred to as a PDS watch. Meteorologists define a PDS watch as follows:
“When the threat for damage caused by severe convection is unusually high, the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) enhances the wording of its convective watch product with the following statement: THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION Such watches are known as “PDS” watches. PDS tornado (TOR) watches are issued when the forecaster has high confidence that multiple strong (F2-F3 on the Fujita Scale) or violent tornadoes (F4-F5 on the Fujita Scale) will occur in the watch area. PDS TOR watches are rare; of 3058 TOR watches issued during the period 1996-2005, only 7% (216) were PDS watches, When compared with regular TOR watches, PDS TOR watches should ideally be associated with a greater risk of strong or violent tornadoes.”
I hadn’t ever heard such strong tornado language. The radio announced the storm system was setting up to be as destructive as the tornado in Joplin, MO last spring. They were telling us to put together survival kits for our “safety spot” (hopefully a basement or somewhere under ground). So, when I heard this, yes, I did get a little bit scared. I had never been told so strongly that we needed to stay home and prepare for the worst. So, that’s what we did.
We had intended on attending the wedding of our neighbor’s daughter – someone the girls had grown up with. Jim and I even went into Omaha to specifically buy some new pants and a shirt for him to wear. On our way home, though, we began hearing the warnings on the radio. The kids were home…alone…as usual (when it comes to severe storms). I say this because it seems through the past summers while on harvest whenever there were severe storms moving in, Jim and I were always gone. The girls have had to “fend” for themselves quite a few times.
One of the worst storms the kids have experienced without us was in Big Springs, NE. We had arrived in Big Springs early enough this particular day that we were able to get the trailer house set up and head back to Norton, KS for the rest of the equipment. The girls were going to spend the night by themselves (which happens quite often when we have to move equipment around) and we would be back later the next day with the combine. There were no storm warnings in the forecast but it’s always been our practice to find two places when going to a new town for the first time. This was the first time we’d been in Big Springs. The two places we needed to find were the medical clinic and the tornado shelter.
Before we left, we asked the owner of the trailer court where the girls could go in case of a storm. He said they could go to his house and proceeded to show us where that was. Jim gathered the girls in the pickup and drove them by his house. We felt confident enough to leave and headed towards Norton.
On our way back north to Big Springs, we were going to have to stop in Imperial, NE for the night. The combine has to quit moving at dusk due to rules of the road. So, we were getting settled in for the night when this BLACK line of clouds headed towards town. We turned on the radio in time to hear the warnings and the report of 104 mph winds in Big Springs. Immediate panic set in. The worst part of this – there was no cell service in that town. There was no way I could call the girls to even find out if they were ok. This was one of the times in my life I knew there was NOTHING I could do but pray. Pray for protection for us and that if the girls were in a bad way, that God would watch over them until we could get back. Just after the prayer and realizing that all I could do was turn it over to God, the phone rang. I remember looking at Jim before I answered it with a perplexed look on my face. I answered it…it was Jamie. She and the girls were fine and had made it through the storm.
She told me how they had stepped outside for some reason and saw the dark wall headed for them. They got back in the trailer house just as the wind hit. It rocked the trailer so strongly, it knocked pictures off the walls. They gathered Jordan (the dog) and headed down the street to a home they thought was the house they were supposed to go – the whole while dodging huge cottonwood limbs and trees. The girls compared it to the movie, “Twister”. Once they got to the house, they ran to door and knocked. When the door opened, they realized they had gone to the wrong house. However, the owners opened the door to these poor unfortunate souls and made them feel right at home. Callie was so scared, the woman of the house offered cartoons and ice cream. They were my angels!
The girls waited until the storm was over and headed back to the trailer house – it was untouched by all the limbs that had fallen. A miracle! The girls went to the truck stop near the interstate for some pizza and to use the payphone to let us know they were ok. It was at this point that I received the phone call while sitting in the truck in Imperial. We immediately unhooked my truck and headed for Big Springs. It couldn’t come fast enough!
When we got back, the girls were in the trailer house trying to mop up rain which had come through a sky vent after the wind had sucked it open. Bless their hearts! I was never so glad to see those four girls and to know they were ok. What a memory they have! What a teaching moment it was for me! What I learned from that storm is something we should all learn early in our lives. There was nothing I could do that night but pray.I had to put complete trust in God that He would take care of them. And that’s exactly what He did!
Back to this past Saturday. On our way home from Omaha, Jamie called. She said they were NOT going to Lincoln and that she thought we should all be together for the night in case it was as bad as they were predicting. To this, Jim and I agreed. She said it felt like a typical summer storm, “You and Dad are gone and the storm is rolling in while we’re here by ourselves”. It’s gotten to be a joke but the storms DO always seem to happen when we’re not around.
Jamie had taken the warnings serious enough that she had prepared her basement as our “safety spot”. She had done it in such a big way I was almost sorry we didn’t have to use it. We were fortunate to miss the bad storms. Thurman, IA, however, didn’t fare as well. I had never heard of Thurman before. I was surprised to see that it is straight East of us, just across the Missouri river. As the crow flies, it’s about 30 miles away. Prayers go out to the people of that town and the others affected by the 100+ tornadoes due to Saturday night’s storms!