Proud to be a Texan

This has been a very busy month so far, as have the last few months. I’m having a hard time keeping up with my blogging obligations, and ended up dropping one. And I almost forgot this one. Besides having family here, we’ve been hard hit with weather in the Dallas and East Texas areas.

I live in Tornado Alley, and this Spring things have been especially active. We’ve had rain nearly every day since the first of January. At the beginning of the year, we were in a serious drought. Today, some of our lakes are so full they’re having to release water to prevent flooding. (And we’re still flooded in some areas) That’s a big turnaround in only 4 1/2 months! Unfortunately, along with the rain, we often get lots of lightning, hail, high winds, and tornadoes.

Last Sunday (Mother’s Day) was a very rough day. Big storms all day long, lots of tornado warnings, and a few tornadoes touched down. I spent most of the day worried about my oldest daughter and her boys, as they were in one of the hardest hit areas. I stayed glued to the weather reports. By Sunday night, my home was in the bulls eye.

We were lucky. The storm split, with part going a bit west of us and the other part going a bit east of us. We got heavy rain and lightning, but that’s all. Just a couple of towns east, they weren’t so lucky. Tornadoes destroyed about 30% of the town of Van in Van Zandt County, TX. Two people were killed (a retired police officer and his wife), and more than two dozen seriously injured, some critically. The elementary and middle schools were so severely damaged that school has been cancelled for the remainder of the school year.

You can see video of the damage, courtesy of KLTV Channel 7

But Texans don’t go down without a fight. The outpouring of support has been amazing. They’ve had so much water and clothing donated that they’ve had to stop taking any more. There are volunteer sign up lists with huge numbers of people joining up, people offering everything from storage buildings to equipment to free meals, rescues gathering up loose pets to hold and get veterinary care for until their owners are able to reclaim them, and churches throwing their doors open wide to take in the displaced, feeding and clothing them and helping them get the services they need.

Yep, I’m proud to be a Texan. We might live in a dangerous spot, weather-wise, but we take care of our own.

Do you have a disaster plan in place? What would you do if something happened and you lost everything? It can happen without warning. Whether from a tornado, fire, flood, earthquake, hurricane, a disaster plan can help you stay alive. Did you know wearing a helmet during a tornado or hurricane could save your life? (A lot of people die of head injuries from flying or falling debris) Do you have extra water and canned food on hand for you and your pets? Do you have working flashlights or lanterns? Where would you and your family meet up if you got separated?

It’s important to have a plan, and to practice with your kids. It could save a life.

Come join me and author Jessie Evans this Friday from two to five Central time for a Facebook party celebrating small town Texas and Texas cowboys! We’ll be having contests and giving away prizes. https://www.facebook.com/JessieEvansRomance?ref=hl