Twister near Kansas City

[mcgillianaire]

Hiding inside the freezer room of a McDonald's just off the Interstate Highway 17 near Liberty, Missouri. You can see dad's head in the left foreground. A tornado passed within a mile of where we took refuge!

Phew! Heavy rains overnight. Woke up at 4 to catch a plane from Des Moines, a 2h30 drive away from Maharishi Vedic City. All flights to Chicago were cancelled, including ours. Our connection to St Louis was also cancelled. No chance of getting to Detroit until tomorrow and that was contingent on the weather improving. We had two options, drive down to Omaha where the weather was probably a bit better or as bad as Des Moines, or drive to Kansas City and catch a flight via Memphis, Tennessee. We opted for the latter, only to find ourselves driving straight into the path of a 30mph tornado just before the airport. As the rain picked up we pulled into a Mickey D's. As the twister approached our temporary abode of safety, the kind staff hollered us into the freezer room. Needless to say, it was quite chilly inside but luckily we only had to spend about a dozen or so minutes there before it was safe to come out. We continued on to Kansas City International Airport. Just as we stepped inside, another thunderstorm lashed hard onto the terminal building. We're now sitting at the gate and hoping to board our aircraft to Memphis in about 90mins. Wish us the best!

Comments

[onlineoffline.livejournal.com]

Sounds like the weather is being more dramatic than you bargained for. Apart from that, hope you're having a good time, and stay safe!

[mcgillianaire.livejournal.com]

It certainly is! I would be lying if a part of me secretly hoped to see a tornado in action, so long as we were in safety. As it happened, I can't be sure the last thing I saw outside the window before we were whisked away into the freezer room was a twister but it will make for a good story in the years to come! It's been a lovely adventure so far but I am probably enjoying it more than my dad. But that's understandable; I'm half his age and with fewer disabilities. :)

[messicat.livejournal.com]

Wowzers, you really are having an adventure!

I have experiences 3 cyclones in my life but never been in any danger, I slept through 2 of them. Two of them were in Fiji and we were the only people whose telephone and power didn't go down so we were getting calls from the families of our neighbours back home (mostly from Australia) making sure they were alright. It was pretty exciting as a kid. But I certainly wouldn't want to experience one any closer. And twisters just sound terrifying!

[mcgillianaire.livejournal.com]

Slept through two of them - nice! How long were you in Fiji for? I can imagine how exciting it must've been as a kid! Not sure I'd want to find myself caught in its path now either.

I've not experienced a cyclone but our flight to Madras got diverted mid-flight to Colombo once because of one. If you speak to people who have lived in Madras for many years, they will tell you how every time a cyclone threatens to hit Madras it almost always misses, but that time it struck and flooded our house. We had to spend the first couple days with my mum's cousins in a different part of the city.

[chu_hi.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the photo documentation of unfolding drama. :^)

[mcgillianaire.livejournal.com]

You're welcome!

[chu_hi.livejournal.com]

I'm in your city! Where are you?!

[mcgillianaire.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I was here but didn't see your message until now! Got back that day from America but was caught up with my dad and sis who left only a few minutes ago. What did you get up to? And visit again soon!!! Hope you're well. :)