Heat Wave Hazards by Susan L.

There's an absolutely delicious breeze this morning. A sign the stifling +40° heat of the last five days is going to break. Whew! A heat driven, massive thunderstorm swept through yesterday in about fifteen minutes. It was accompanied by tornado watches and warnings for our area. It's rare for us. Tornadoes normally travel twenty minutes north and west of here. Tornado alley: the edge of the snow belt. I used to live over that way. When towering, black thunderheads turn the sky green, when the temperature plummets in a matter of seconds. You watch the skies. Carefully. These storms stir up a mixture of fear and fascination. I've never seen a tornado, a good thing perhaps, but I've seen the damage they can do first hand. I've had some incredibly vivid nightmares about them that leave me surprised to find my house standing when I wake up! My house now is relatively safe, being nestled in a river valley, more of a bowl actually, with protective, rolling hills all around the area. Okay. There's still a piece of the little girl in me that was frightened by thunder. "Praise the Lord from the earth...Fire and hail, snow and clouds; stormy wind; fulfilling His word." Ps 149:7