I was surprised by the timing of the storms last night. I got home from work, fed the cat and was making dinner when I heard the tornado sirens go off in Oak Park. I have lived there for 7 years and the local tornado (air raid)sirens never go off in Oak Park. (Plainfield is another story) I knew there were storms predicted for the evening, but since I was not watching TV or listening to the radio I was lost on how severe this was getting. I immediately thought, (crap) I have to go down to the condo building laundry room basement. What do I need? I grabbed the cat carrier, my purse and glasses (I might need ID if everything gets demolished). (map at left is the history of tornadoes in Chicago in the last 50 years)
Then I saw my neighbor across the back stairway and waved to chat with him through the kitchen window. He agreed the sirens were only used if tornadoes had actually been spotted so it was best to get in the basement. Then they stopped. We thought the coast was clear then they started again. (crap!) Time to go. He has 2 cats, so his job was going to be harder than mine. I closed the window and chased down the cat (through the living room, bedroom and dining room before I could catch him) and put him in the carrier with my purse and glasses and headed out the back door downstairs while the sirens were wailing. (this was more panic than I had bargained for this evening!)
My neighbor and I were joined in the laundry room basement by his 2 cats (the frantic one in a carrier and the less frantic one on the loose) and his downstairs neighbors, a Lithuanian-Japanese couple, the Japanese grandmother, brother and their large black dog. (Um, cats on one side of the basement and dogs on the other please…) We passed the time listening to the radio report of tornadoes being spotted in Elmhurst and someone said there was one in Oak Park also. We never saw it although the sky was really very dark grey in the NW direction. The sewer drain backed up in the basement and the windows seemed to pour in rain from the top ledge when the rain was coming down the fastest. After entertaining ourselves with the few Japanese words we knew and listening to the radio the storm passed and we went back upstairs grateful that no one lost a car, condo or loved one from the storm. The storms did not die out even though the tornadoes did. I had trouble falling asleep at 11 pm because of the constant loud boom noises from the thunder and lightning every 5 minutes.
This morning the storm damage was also discovered in the office I work in on Michigan Avenue downtown in Chicago. There were several offices and cubicles that are next to windows that got soaked with rain water. The rain came in around the top of the windows and soaked the carpet, desks and all the items in the general area of the windows. I am not sure how this is possible, but it only happens when the wind and rain are strong. Regular rain does not create this mess. Then to make things more tense, the first Tuesday of the month 10 am tornado sirens went off and we all though that meant there were more tornadoes in the area again. Luckily this time it was just a test!