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That Time I Overreacted to a Tornado Warning
Please, though, who doesn’t overreact to tornado warnings?!
As summertime approaches in my little southern Albertan town, I brace myself for the whirlwind of tornado season. Alberta is nasty for tornadoes due to its ability to transition from 40 degrees Celsius to a summer snowstorm in minutes.
August flurries are common ‘round these parts. Freezing rain and hail in mid-July is the mantra of the Albertan weatherman.
We’ve all just come to accept cloudy with a chance of death cyclone.
To be fair, in my lifetime, I’ve never been swept away by a tornado. I’m making it sound like they are an everyday occurrence, but I’m just flexing my incredible ability to exaggerate.
However, we do get funnel cloud watches gliding through our smartphones at least a few times a summer.
When I was 12 and delusions of grandeur ruled my life, I watched the 1996 thriller Twister starring Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton. Immediately, I became obsessed with the idea of becoming a storm chaser. I wanted to run with the winds and collect data on the devastating storms that destroyed so many homes and livelihoods.
No. That’s another lie. I didn’t care about helping humanity. I thought it would be exhilarating…