take cover in a basement or interior room if a weather threat approaches.
at this point it's really coming down, but there isn't much in the way of winds. we decide to play it safe. hustle the dogs downstairs, bring their food and water dishes down, give them their suppers. look outside at the rain coming heavily down.
but it doesn't feel bad. and that might be weird to say, but almost twenty years ago we were at a drive-in theatre in my partner's old sunfire, watching a double bill. fantastic four and room 1408, i think. and it was raining so hard that the four of us in the car couldn't see past the windshield. a few minutes before, the sky had turned green, and was roiling. it has always remained burned in my memory.
but today? just dark clouds, a downpour, nothing to worry us but the barrage of alerts going to all the phones in the house. the dogs ate their meals, sat with us on the sectional as we scrolled reddit to see if anything was actually up.
the oven beeped. the fries were ready. we looked at each other. yeah, this felt okay. headed upstairs to finish making supper.
as for the tornado? turns out we were just at the edge of the coverage zone. nowhere near. but better safe than sorry.