What to do About Tornadoes

I, Bernie Harberts, did not use generative AI to write or illustrate this article. Spell check and grammar check, yes. AI, no.

“What are you doing about the storms and tornadoes?”, folks ask me.
It’s been an active summer tornado season with twisters getting lots of press as they destroy homes and communities.
I tell them, “nothing”.
When the closest shelter is a telephone pole, your options are limited.

The hardest part is watching the storm fronts appear.
On the weather radar, the clouds are yellow, orange and green. Depending on the intensity. Out here, they’re a uniform Doom Black.
When those dirty big clouds roll down on the mules and me, all I do is put in my foul weather gear. Then I squat down in the grass – lean up against a fence post or telephone pole – and wait it out.
It’s easier at night. I don’t see the storm’s approach, just the onslaught of rain and the tent squatting down on me, crushed by the roaring winds and drowning rains.
So far, we haven’t been blown to Kansas.

Julia
2019-06-02 08:35:20

Thank God. Hang on tight B. I want you back.

Let's Keep in Touch

Sign up for The River, the RiverEarth newsletter, for occasional doses of rambling and homestead life. Plus you'll get a free copy of my 155-page illustrated ebook 19 Million Mule Steps.

Just enter your email below and hit Subscribe.

Explore More of RiverEarth

• Travel by Horse and Mule
• Travel by Sail
• Tasmania by $10 Bike
• Around the Homestead
• Travel Grit Website: Interviews with Long Riders, Sailors and Adventurers