Normally it’s not a good thing when my little one gets me up in the middle of the night. Last night was different.

My husband went into the nursery to check on him. I was awake in bed. Then I heard it. It was a the faint sound of what sounded like a siren. Given the weather, I called the station to see if I needed to be concerned. I did. One of our producers told me there was a tornado watch. He said to get in the basement. I whispered to my husband to come to the basement and went into 3-year-old’s room to pull her out of the bed. I grabbed two pillows from her bed and carried them down with us. Both kids were asleep—- though not for long—as the four of us squeezed into the basement tub. I dropped the pillows on the floor on the way into the bathroom.. forgetting to pick them up and bring them in for cover should we need it. I also forgot to bring the dog. Poor Dewey. At least he stayed on the floor next to the tub.

It was the longest 2 ½ hours. I didn’t want to talk with my husband as we were hoping the kids would stay asleep. I didn’t want to scare them either but I had to find a way to explain, at least to my 3-year-old, why we were all in the bathtub together! I relieved some stress by turning to Facebook. I haven’t always been a fan of Facebook but I found comfort in giving my status updates and hearing from people who were in the same boat or those who were just being supportive. A lot of my friends made me laugh to, which in a moment of stress… is a good thing.   

We were fortunate. We were spared any damage. Thank goodness for the sirens. They were not from the Town of Blacksburg, rather the sirens from Virginia Tech reaching my backyard. I spoke with the Blacksburg Police Department and learned the town had two sirens many years ago but doesn’t any longer. There are no plans, I’m told, to have them again.