The only person who reads this blog anyway is me, when I proofread it, which is totally fine except that I'm talking to myself, so who cares? Plus it's a very cool memory for a storm buff, not to mention it was the second time in my life that I was fairly certain I might very well die, and that's an interesting feeling.
So the Bud Greene band was playing somewhere in Mississippi. It was a Saturday, and after being on the road for most of the week, unless every one of us got hammered or there were locals involved or a crazy party or extenuating circumstances or whatever, on Saturday night after the gig we were ready to get home, so we usually drove back from Saturday gigs no matter how far away it was.
We knew that there was going to be a pretty good storm rolling in after midnight, probably around when we'd be hitting the road. Some of the guys had been drinking all week and didn't much give a shit, but I knew it could get rough and a couple of us kept an eye on things as best we could. We turned on TWC in the motel room in the morning, and it was already big news. The only question was whether it was just going to be a strong storm or a really intense one. This was just before the Web and cellphones, but I figured I'd find a TV somewhere or find a station on the radio.
It ended up being a storm that old-timers around here still remember because it forever changed the landscape in a hilly part of town, scouring away dozens of old trees and leaving a bare view of a crest. It was later dubbed "the perfect storm" after the movie of the same name, because three different systems came together to form one giant storm. Wilder still for me was that I got to experience it twice.
The last time I was able to get any reliable information was when we had dinner. We'd checked out of the room and couldn't find a TV anywhere after the one in the restaurant. Wherever we were we were in the Boonies, and I couldn't get a single station on the radio. I figured I'd find a TV in a dorm room or somewhere, or if all else failed I'd just ask a frat boy. Wrong.
As often happened at frat parties, all the brothers got shitfaced, and they were completely useless for getting any information out of. It was starting to get pretty windy as we were packing up, but none of the brothers gave a fuck. I asked several completely drunk bros if there was a TV I could watch for a minute to check on the storm, and they just laughed it off. They'd be okay in the basement if a tornado hit but we had to drive in it.
Looking back, we'd have stayed the night if we'd known how intense it was going to be, but then there wouldn't be a story. I remember one guy leaning out of a second-story window. I yelled up to him to see if he'd heard anything about the storm, but all he did was throw up. I'll never forget that, and it's hilarious now.
Things were looking pretty gnarly but apparently we decided to head back anyway. The trailer and equipment weighed right at 3,000lbs, and there was about another ton with the van and five clowns sitting in it. We figured we could stand up to the wind, but we hadn't figured on being right on the edge of a twister, but that's how it goes sometimes. There was still only static on the radio, but pretty soon we didn't need a radio to tell us what was going on, and it was pretty bad.
The bottom just dropped out. The raindrops were the biggest I've ever seen. They stung my face when I stuck my head out of the window to get a better look at the shoulder, and it sounded like gravel hitting the roof. Then the lightning started, and it was the most powerful I've ever seen too. We were on a highway that was typical of most of Mississippi- two-lane surrounded by pine trees on both sides.
Lightning was striking trees all around us, and it was so powerful that it was causing the sap inside to rapidly heat up and explode in a shower of sparks and flame. The dead trees would explode and burst into flames. Even with the deluge of rain they'd burn for several seconds. It was like one of those 70s movies like Apocalypse Now or the Twilight Zone Movie, which was before CGI and they used real explosives for the special effects. It was happening all around us. It was scary but fascinating, and I remember seeing trees get hit 15' from the window and turning my head to watch them burn.
The wind started blowing us around like it was nothing. The raindrops were blowing just a couple degrees from straight across and they looked as big as grapes. We heard a rumbling sound off in the distance and knew that a tornado was close, but we didn't know if we were heading toward it or away from it. I was considering our options, which were few.
On either side of the road was a 4'-wide ditch with about 2' of water flowing by ten times faster that we were going, instead of a shoulder, and that'd knock down the biggest person in half a second. Running into the woods and standing next to pine trees that were getting struck by lightning didn't sound like a good option either, and most of us couldn't have jumped the ditch anyway. If you get caught outside in a tornado, a ditch would be the best place to get, only not when it's flooded.
Visibility was about 3' if that, and we had to creep along at 5mph or less. There was no shoulder to pull over on, and even though we couldn't see past the front of the hood we had to keep moving. A car coming up behind us wouldn't see us in time to stop. The wind picked up even more. Debris was hitting the van and it was being blown around like a toy. I'm surprised we didn't tump over. As I remember, the tornado was off to our left, which makes sense considering the direction we were headed. The main part of the storm was just to the north of us.
With the wind and the rain and lightning and thunder and the trees exploding all around us it felt like Armageddon or something, and we were all afraid, some more than others. There was a slight but real possibility that a tornado could've ripped the van apart, and we with it. We were almost dead-ass in the middle of a really, really big storm. We were saying "I love you man!" to each other and really meaning it. Nobody was losing it but we knew that there was always a slight possibility we might not make it. For what it's worth I was praying, and maybe a couple of the other guys were too.
After several minutes apocalyptic weather, hugging each other when we weren't being tossed around in the van and saying "Oh, SHIT" a lot, the wind started to break and the rain thinned a little. We were able to speed up to maybe 15mph, and realized that we were going to finally outrun the storm. After a few more minutes we were able to get almost up to normal speed, and we breathed sighs of relief. We stopped at the next gas station. We all had to pee, and I'm guessing that some alcohol was bought.
When we got up to highway speed we were able to get ahead of the storm by maybe 75 miles or so. We were having a big time...whooping and hollering and saying shit like "It's great to be alive" and I STILL love you man!" That was quite a ride. I don't remember what time it was when I got back to the apartment, but it was well after midnight. My girlfriend Paige was up watching the weather. Good girl.
We hugged and kissed and exchanged pleasantries. We might have exchanged even more pleasantries except that I knew the storm would be here before long, and Paige didn't share my enthusiasm for storms. We had a screened-in porch, and I'd stuff cotton in my ears and put on headphones and go out and enjoy the storm, while Paige would generally be under the covers with the cats, bless her heart. She wasn't a baby about it and don't worry...I'd go in and check on her now and then.
I knew this was going to be a big one, so I calmly put some extra cushions and pillows on the bed, and we split a glass of wine. The storm was still maybe half an hour away, so we had time to prepare. I decided to wait until the storm was over before I told her about our adventure in the very same storm one state over. She was anxious enough. I did tell her that we drove through it but I didn't go into details. I didn't expect it to be nearly as severe by the time it got to us, although you never know.
There's an elevation to the west of where we are in the state, and it breaks up some of the intensity of most storms right before they get to us, but if they come from the south, as a hurricane or are as strong as this storm was, all bets are off. It still hit our area pretty hard, and again the worst part was a little north of us.
I sat out on the porch and took in the storm while my girlfriend and cats were snuggled in bed. I thought about what we'd just been through, and started to finally come down from all the Adrenaline and God knows what other chemicals our brains had injected into our bodies. It was good to be alive.
The storm was intense for about 15 minutes and then it passed. I went in and we caught up on the week and I told her about how we'd been in the same storm an hour earlier and how intense it was, and how crazy it was to be in the same storm twice. She hugged me and reckoned she was glad we made it. She knew things got crazy on the road, and when you add in a tornado...well, she was always glad when we made it through another week.
I've experienced some intense storms before but that one took the cake, and to be in it twice was amazing. The attitude-changing experience of thinking we might die was interesting, and was one of those things that helped me not to take things for granted. When your number comes up you can't do much about it, and it got pretty close to our numbers that night. I always say I love to see a big storm. I got my wish...twice.
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