All About Tornadoes (Part 1)

It's Kansas. You get used to them. You grow to love them.

Tornadoes are awesome.

Really. They are.

It’s on my bucket list to see a tornado in person before I die. I don’t have much of a bucket list, but seeing a tornado is a must. If I didn’t want to be a writer, I would consider being a storm chaser. And being a storm chaser in Kansas ain’t that hard. The tornadoes are everywhere.

KS averages 96 tornadoes a year. That’s only 24 less than Texas, who is number one in the nation (and I believe the world) for tornadoes.

Picture of one of the KS tornadoes during the Tornado outbreak sequence of 2016. This one was about an hour away from my house. By Ruffin McDaniel - http://www.weather.gov/top/LongTrackTornadoHitsNorthCentralKS, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49224546

There have been many times in my life where I’ve had to go to the basement because of tornadoes, but there’s only once where I’ve been in semi-danger. That was during the Tornado Outbreak sequence of May 22-26 in 2016.

I had just turned seven a couple of days before (May 20th) and the tornadoes were coming down close enough to us (mere minutes away) that we not only had to go into the basement, but we had to go into the cement laundry room and practice tornado drills: shoes on, heads down, stretched out. It was bad enough that a friend on her lunch break had to stop by our house, bang like crazy on the door, and come down with us. We were in the basement all day, though our friend was able to leave once the most danger passed.

I don’t remember too much about the Tornado outbreak sequence, but I believe we had to go to the basement a couple times during the following days. Tornadoes were coming down all over KS and the states around us. It was terrifying. It was absolutely awesome.

I don’t remember when I started loving tornadoes, but I do. To me they symbolize God’s majestic power and strength. I’ll often go watch a storm roll in because I love experiencing the uncontrollable wildness of it; tornadoes just take it to a whole new level.

This tornado came down a few weeks ago. My parents were at a movie and had no idea that there had been tornadoes dropping down fairly close to us until they got home. The sirens didn’t go off near our home, which meant we didn’t need to take cover.

A lot of people are terrified of tornadoes. I think it’s sad. Tornadoes aren’t inherently bad and if you know what you’re doing they’re rarely dangerous. When there are tornado casualties it often has to do with the person involved being stupid (getting way too close to it on purpose) or not knowing about/having access to the things that keep you safe (basements, getting down low to the ground, wearing shoes, etc.)

In the VBS play I’m participating in this year there are two different instances in the script where tornadoes are used as an effect of sin that will no longer be present in Heaven.

Maybe it’s true that tornadoes are an effect of sin, but I think it’s a stretch to go as far as to say they won’t be in Heaven. Tornadoes aren’t bad, they’re just dangerous. They are a part of God’s magnificent creation. They express His power, His might, and His creativity. In Heaven, we’re going to be safe; tornadoes may still exist, they just won’t be harmful any longer!

Man, do I want to see one.

One of these days, I will. You can count on it.

Would you see a tornado if you had the chance? Why or why not?

(And while you’re reading about tornadoes, check this one out.)