Urza Posted September 25, 2001 Report Posted September 25, 2001 Those of you near Washington D.C. may have already heard this, but here's my story. (I was in Elkton at College Park)World turns white, preparing for a flashbackI was at my computer after getting back from class, and it was about 5:10 pm. I went online to check up on this forum when a message flashed up on the screen stating that there was a tornado warning from 5 to 6 pm. Wondering what the weather was doing, I booted up a weather watcher program and went to look out my window. As I did, I saw a car fly by! This was quite astounding, since I was on the 8th floor (the top). I stared in awe at the twister about 5 feet from my window, when the pressure caused all the doors on my floor to slam shut at the same time. A second later, the fire alarm went off. Then I clicked. I franticly shut off the computer (which was still loading up that weather program), ran out the door (forgetting to lock it), and down the steps. I stepped outside (the tornado was over my now) and surveyed the damage. The car I saw was in the parking lot, upside down on another car. Most of the car windows were broken, but the building looked to be intact. I was then told to go inside, that another one was coming. Down to the basement, I went. When I got there I immediately started sweating, as all the people in the residence hall (about 1000) were in the same crowded basement. I was lucky enough to have shoes on (I just got back from class), as two of my friends (they accompanied me for the rest of the day) and many other people were barefoot. After sitting there for an hour, while being deafened by the fire alarm, the alarm went off, but took all the lights with it. It was pitch black and I was in a crowded room, with 1000 other people in the dark. Some started getting claustrophobic, and were screaming. I was getting a little squeamish. Then someone who was prepared got a flashlight working, and took on the roll of lighthouse. After being down in that basement for another hour, we were all moved to the student union, where I found someone who had a deck of cards, and the four of us played a few games of Spades. Those lucky enough to have money (not me) could get food from McDonald's. I sort of enjoyed that, and after we were done (it was 11 pm by now) it felt like I just stepped out of a time warp. I was told that the dorms were open again, and I went home.Flashback ends, and the world flashes back to normalWell, long story short, it was an exhilharating experience today. What a way to celebrate BCM's Gold date! (Only just now was I able to check my E-mail and the forum) Oh, well, I don't have classes tomorrow, so I'll celebrate then.
Kush Posted September 25, 2001 Report Posted September 25, 2001 Woah! You are one very lucky individual!
Guest Posted September 25, 2001 Report Posted September 25, 2001 LOL! A true gamer. He turned off the PC before running out!!!!
Urza Posted September 25, 2001 Author Report Posted September 25, 2001 I would have waited for a clean shutdown, but time was a little scarse.
Akuma Minako Posted September 25, 2001 Report Posted September 25, 2001 Wow, nothing ever that exciting happens in Calgary. Once again all we get is freak snowstorms in July. Glad you're okay. Wish that happened to me though. Why can't anything exciting ever happen in Calgary?! I need a little thrill in my life dammit!
Epsilon 5 Posted September 26, 2001 Report Posted September 26, 2001 Eh, Akuma, you're not alone... all we get here is winter slush, ice storm (sometimes...), very hot dya and cold days... nothing special. In fact we should be happy...
Guest Posted September 26, 2001 Report Posted September 26, 2001 Here in Oregon, we every once in a while get a nice rainstorm with 50 mph winds, and maybe an earthquake or 2. This is a very boring place for natural hazards and disasters, I am old, 36, and I like it that way. When I lived in Kentucky we had tornados, and heat factors, whatever those are , and I would not trade living in the Northwest for any of it thank you very much.My excitement comes from helping search and rescue with my ham radio, but that's about as exciting as it gets. THANK GOODNESS!!! Whoops, forgot about volcanic eruptions, but that was 20 years ago, what do you want?!! LOL [ 09-25-2001: Message edited by: Jaguar ]
Akuma Minako Posted September 27, 2001 Report Posted September 27, 2001 Funny thing is I kinda want to see a tornado in action. I've seen Dust Devils on the Praries of course but...WEll that's not exactly THAT exciting.
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