Twisted
If you are new here, this is part two of “A Twisted Sight”. In my previous post, I shared an experience I recently had this summer where I met some of my fellows neighbors when a bad storm rolled into town. And although several tornadoes touched down that day, we ended up getting lucky. In Illinois, 2023 has been the year of the tornado as we have never had this many tornado sightings in and around the Chicagoland area. It has been one interesting year so far.
On Wednesday, July 12th, 2023, there had been a breakout of tornadoes. There was a total of 13 tornadoes that night alone including two that hit my hometown. Two nights later, on Friday, July 14th, one of my best friends and I had no idea of where we would end up. The night started off smoothly. I left straight from work to met her at her place. Once there, I said “hi” to her fur baby, who is one of the most adorable and happy fur babies, prancing and dancing all around to greet me as soon as I walked in. Then, we shared some stories and advise and things we had learned. And shortly before we left for dinner, my friend showed me her net redecorated guest room/office space. It was G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S and such a vibe. Fergie would love it!
Shortly thereafter, we went to dinner over near Oakbrook Mall. There we caught up with each other. We discussed goals and dreams of ours to current challenges we were working to overcome. At some point during this conversation, we moved to the car. There we cracked the side windows open and opened up the sky roof. It was a beautiful 90 degree weather night.
During our conversation, my friend was sitting with her back facing towards the mall. While she was talking, I noticed that the clouds behind the mall were getting darker and darker. Soon the lightning flashes became more and more frequent. And even though it was a hot, humid, summer night, we did not think much of it. So, we continued sitting in the car and chatting chatting away.
Perhaps 20 minutes later at roughly 10pm, we both nearly jumped out of our seats as the Tornado warning alert system on my phone went off. As I was focused on closing all the windows, my friend questioned why her phone had yet to go off. But thankfully, after a minute or two passed, my friends phone alerted us of the tornado warning as well. So, we buckled our seatbelts and started to make our way back to her place. This way we could shelter in place.
However, as soon as we rounded one of the edges of the mall, I saw it. The tornado was in the distance and it was making its way over to where we were. It was a terrifying moment indeed. I could not believe what I was seeing. It felt like a scene out of the movie “Twister”.
Once I turned onto the busy road, I stayed in the right most lane as her place was to the right. As the light turned red and we came to a complete stop, I pointed in the direction of the tornado so my friend could witness what I was seeing. But she was not able to see the tornado. I, later realized it was because every time I would see the tornado, it was when the lightning had flashed. By the time I would say, “There it is” “There is the tornado” “Over there”, it was no longer lit up in the sky. So, each time I would point, she would look over and see darkness.
Meanwhile, the sirens were actively blaring. It was the loudest siren I have ever experienced. As the tornado was getting closer and closer, my fight or flight was ready for the moment the light turned green. While we were at the light waiting for the light to change, I noticed that the tornado was heading in the direction of my friends place. So, I made a last minute decision to turn left instead of right in hopes of getting out of the tornadoes pathing.
When the light turned green and I went to the left and I got onto a highway. On that road, there were barely any cars at that point. The sky seemed quite peaceful. When I missed the first exit, my friend insisted that we needed to head back so we were not too far away. So, I got off at the next exit and we went right. At first, things were going smooth. Then, I think we both started to get nervous. She wanted to get home and I no longer had any idea where the tornado was. I thought I saw something on the ground but I was not sure as there were a lot of trees blocking my view.
Again, we were stuck at another stop light. This time though, things got intense quickly. We realized that there we some trees down up ahead. And almost on cue, the wind suddenly picked up and the rain started coming down sideways which is never a good sign. There was a time back in college when I was helping my roommate move her car to a garage as there was an impending storm with strong winds on its way. It turned out to bd only a funnel cloud above the school but the rain was sideways that day too. From that experience, I knew we were much closer than we wanted to be.
So, once again, I took a left instead of heading back to the right. But this time, instead of feeling as though we made it out of the storm, it felt like we were coming up on the storm. The tall trees around us starting swaying and the rain picked up. I was trying to follow the street that we were on as far as I could until we felt safe but after a couple blocks, there was construction. The road was blocked so we had to make either a left of right. I made a quick right as it looked more promising than the left. And then, my friend reassured me that it would be in our best interest to turn around and head back to her place because we did not want to get trapped in an area that we did not know. While turning around, things got intense as well. The trees were still swaying and we had no idea if we were closer or farther from the tornado. It was terrifying.
And guess what, we were stuck at another red light once again. When we started moving again, my friend thought the best option was to head straight. Although I was hesitant, I followed her suggestion. While doing so, the two of us became quiet and even a bit nervous. I think we realized at the same time that the even taller trees started to dance a lot at the treetops. I started praying quietly in hopes we would make it home safely. And then, we discussed the idea of taking shelter as a nearby hotel that was just up ahead to the right. As we approached, more branches were down in the area and the rain was pouring down. I stopped and parked right in front of the entrance as we both ran in.
Upon entering the hotel, guests had already been evacuated to the first floor. My friend and I retreated to the hallway where there were no windows. We sat there for about 15-20 minutes before hearing that the storm had passed.
Upon receiving confirmation on my storm tracking app, we were relieved as we made our way back to my car. And this time, we were officially back on track to her place. Once there, I stayed for another hour to make sure that the storm had officially passed us and that I would have no further issue getting back home.
All in all, that night will be a reminder of how fragile life truly is and how a storm can turn on a whim. Because even though we made it through without any harm, it could have easily turned tragic at any moment. As the saying goes, “It hit too close to home”. However, I am grateful I was not driving alone that night and that I had my best friend by my side. It made the situation that much easier to tackle. Also, it made me realize the power of trusting your own intuition. Even though I might have gone in the wrong direction, I am glad I made the decision to get as far away from the storm as possible. If anything, it will make it one memorable story for the both of us.
As a signature of this blog, I like to end each post with a suggestion to “Pass on kindness”. After all, there is no such time as the present to “Inspire Those Who Inspire You”. By passing on kindness, it does need to be this big, elaborate ordeal. You could smile at a stranger, compliment something you love about someone’s outfit or personality, tell someone how proud you are of them or that you thinking of them.
