Thanks everyone, for thinking of me!
I made it. I ended up sitting in the corner of my couch with my laptop and journaled my way through it. Thankfully, it was only about 30 minutes or so of terror, then the warnings expired and the sky cleared back to a dry, dull, grey. There was some major damage in counties around mine, but we were pretty untouched, this time.
I learned that I most definitely need to discuss this with my T, who actually lives in the same city as my parents (about 20 minutes from me) so I'm sure she has experience with weather, and considering she's got two kids, she's bound to have some safety ideas.
Jane - flooding is not fun. My parents house flooded a few times when I was a kid - everything in the basement was ruined
Great idea to put things into rubbermaids and stick them up high, then you should be fine! I actually keep an emergency pack in my classroom, but don't have one at home. Hmmmm... priorities?
STRM, I don't know how you and the littles handle the sirens, knowing how freaked they get at storms.
I have a community basement, so there really is nothing I can do to prepare it for comfort, unfortunately. There are strict rules as to what can and cannot be in the main part, and my storage unit is my least favorite place in the world (currently holding only empty boxes, actually.) I think, though, that I'm going to check the distance of my wireless router, and see if I can actually still be on my laptop down there. If I have my laptop, I can pretty much make it through anything
LG - thanks for the vibes! The rough tornado season in the mid-west is what made yesterday even rougher for me. I have friends in Missouri and they have lost almost everything because of storms and floods
Mother nature can be so cruel sometimes.
There are about 14,000 people without power around my county, I'm grateful I'm not one of them.... little blessings, right?!