the Headlines: Four Hours! 9,361 Lightening Strikes!
Laura writes: “This was the first time I headed for the basement for a Chicago storm–when the sirens go off, the radio alert mentions your neighborhood by name and you live in an attic, its time to hide!”
Well, I think I’m almost done freaking out over this round of thunderstorms that hit Chicagoland on Monday.
Maybe not.
They say that the lightening was firing off at more than 800 bolts per minute and yes. I think that was true.
The light and something like a charge filled my living room and was relentless!
Did I mention I actually went and sat in my bathtub for about 45 minutes during the worst of it? There are no windows in that room and I could not go to the ground level (garden level not really a basement) because of the 75 mph gale force winds and rain…
Most of the really bad stuff was NW of my neighborhood, but I was sad to see my beloved Buckeye tree at the end of my street had been damaged and was in trouble…
My neighbor upstairs couldn’t go to work because he found that a live electric line had fallen across his pick-up truck and the CPD and ComEd were standing guard over it while it wiggled and sparked!
This was right up the street from me!
more — great sound
HOLY COW! I’m sorry about the tree, but glad that was the extent of your damage.
OH MY!! I’ve been through thundersnow and several can’t-see-a-darn-thing blizzards, but that storm takes the cake! So sad about the tree… :-( Glad you’re safe, though!
It all looks like a war zone fire fight. Glad you’re OK. It brings back memories of living as a child in Michigan, man the storms were harsh.
Golly, in the bathtub and you’re a fear-no-stitch knitter! That MUST have been some storm. Hope the worst is over. Glad you weren’t out there behind the camera.
That has to be one of the most memorable “I can’t come to work because…” calls I’ve ever heard of!
I didn’t even know until that night that we had tornado sirens in the city limits!
The thunder, lightening and tornadoes were something else! There was a warning siren on a post right behind our complex, warbling away. My heart was beating so fast as I sat in my closet with a pillow over my head. I live in an glass building, so warnings to stay away from windows? What could I do. We lost power for 18 hours but no damage that I’m aware of though.
That’s scary weather. I’m glad I’m in England, although when the USA gets dreadful weather it normally hits us about a week later. Yes, I know you can have many different weather systems, and it’s a big country, but whenever it hits our news, we know we’re for it in a few days.
C’s brother and partner live in Oak Park. They were here for a short visit the last two days – surprised Cherise for her birthday, which was yesterday. The topic of the Monday night storms was a frequent one. They lost several plants from their balcony but were lucky not to have suffered any more damage than that.