Last night we had a tornado watch til 2 a.m. We had already decided to sleep in the basement bedroom. We have a chance of thunderstorms all night and I’d rather just sleep down there and pretend we’re safe from whatever happens.
I know this isn’t funny and not a joking matter but neither of us sleep in “go outside, visit the neighbors” type clothes. Vince is way worse than I am and it probably wouldn’t bother him one bit to go outside .. but I’m a bit different so any time there’s bad weather predicted, I sleep in better and more clothes; I keep a pair of tennis shoes downstairs and I keep a pair of jeans, a T-shirt and the necessary undergarments by the bed on nights like these.
I was taking a shower last night and I thought . . we have two nightstand and a chest of drawers in the basement bedroom, with nothing in any of those drawers. I’m going to start keeping a change of clothes . . maybe two down there, along with underwear, and a good supply of first aid items. I feel like if it was a tornado, the bedroom is completely underground . . the only difference in it and the safe room is that the safe room has a concrete “lid” and the bedroom just has a main level bedroom on top of it.
In Texas, the best we could do was keep a change of clothes by the bed because we didn’t have any kind of safe room there.
I hope it never happens and I’m sure there’s only a very slim chance of a tornado ever hitting us. Don’t tell me any differently. I’ll never forget the sights I saw after the Joplin tornado but I choose to pretend it can never happen again.
I’m so thankful for a basement. I would never have agreed to a house here without a basement. Even the little apartment I had rented in Nevada had a basement . . with a dirt floor but a basement nonetheless.
This morning, as soon as I got up, I packed two pairs of jeans, four shirts, underwear, socks, a first aid kit, things like aspirin, antacid . . took it all down and put it where it should be kept. We already have soap, shampoo, towels, etc. in the bathroom. We keep flashlights and other necessities down there because we keep them all over the house. You never know where you’ll be when the power goes out.
Hopefully, we’re all set and should anything ever happen, we’ll be doing the best we can.
patty says
I think you are very smart to be prepared. I think I would add some water and food too. You could just change those out every once in a while to keep them fresh.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
Most all of our food and water is stored in the basement.
Sara Fridley says
Smart ways to be prepared! I live in SD, but we have tornados too. So I’ve never lived anywhere without a basement – and hope to never have to make that choice. Twice I’ve huddled in hallways during tornados – once in a hotel, and once in a hospital. Very scary!!
Rosalie says
The only thing I’d add is a couple of days of medication and a rain jacket and sweater.
Hopefully you never need them!
Cinda Moulds says
Does Rita sleep in the basement with you? Does she need any emergency supplies down there?
judy.blog@gmail.com says
She has a little playpen that’s in the safe room and if we feel like it’s not safe for us to sleep upstairs, she comes down and sleeps in her playpen. We keep a few cans of dog food (storebought) for her but . . it’s not pleasant when she eats it. Her homemade food has to be frozen . . wait . . I now have a freezer in the basement. Nevermind. I’m going to put some of her frozen bags down there and I can rotate them out with the upstairs stash of dog food. Thanks for bringing that up and reminding me.
Nelle Coursey says
We were in a tornado WATCH until 2 am this morning! Missed us, but we have a chance for tonight also
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I know! I still can’t figure out how to cancel the warnings on my phone so I got several of them last night from Brownwood and several more from here.