It's a derecho cloud formation. It's similar to what I saw in the sky as I stood outside my house today:
Click here to read about derechoes including videos
I have storm stress.
When I was four years old my parents shuffled my sisters and I into our basement. My dad was listening to the scanner. I was frightened because my parents were concerned about a tornado that was heading toward our small town. They kept us away from the windows. I remember the color of the basement, my parents talking to one another and sitting very still.
I believe the fear I feel today whenever I see the sky turn that freakish green or the clouds moving in strange ways stems from this experience. I grew up in the northern suburbs of Chicago. Throughout my childhood it was drilled into us (if there was bad weather expected during the night) to keep our pants and shoes near our bed so we could put them on or grab them as we took cover. That was my storm reality.
When our power went out my mom was prepared. She always had candles, matches and flashlights. I don't remember a storm without them. My dad kept watch of the sky. If the color changed he warned us of what might be coming. If the wind was kicking up and we were under a tornado watch my dad would open all the windows. He said if a tornado came it was less likely to pick up our house because the wind could blow right through it.
Our hiding place was either the crawl space or the big bathroom. We would pile into the bathtub and bring our animals in the bathroom with us. There were no windows in the bathroom. We would be safe.
Some of the nightmares I still have are of tornadoes lifting our house off the foundation and spinning it counter clockwise. I can hear the wind howl, feel the pressure in the house and feel the lift as I sit on the floor in our bathroom. Sometimes my sisters are in the house, sometimes it's just my mom and I and other times I'm saving my animals. Every dream feels as real as it gets.
Fortunately, that day when I was four years old, the tornado hit a neighborhood about a mile down the road. We were fortunate.
The stress I feel every time the weather gets scary is something I've had to deal with my whole life. I think if I had a storm shelter I would feel much better. Maybe someday.
