Yesterday afternoon my school district announced today would be a remote learning day due to the expected very high winds. Never as a child or an adult has this happened to me before, so I am pretty concerned.
Typically on 'inclement weather days', kids and teachers just get the day off and it is a grand old time. COVID changed that of course, since my district purchased an iPad for every single student, down to our very littlest learners (please, explain to me how staring at a device for hours is good for four-year-olds. I'll wait.) On these days our district offices remain open and administrators are required to report to their buildings.
Just now we received word that our district building is closing at noon due to weather updates just released. THAT also never happens unless shit is serious.
It's kind of appalling seeing and hearing complaints from people about no school today. People, especially those who no longer have children in school, seem to forget that lots of kids walk or ride buses. Bus kids + walkers + 70 MPH winds = DEADLY. Not to mention in these conditions even SUVs and such are not exactly safe. Or my little car that weighs ten pounds and is made out of tinfoil. (Not really, but it is a Chevy Sonic, so it is pretty light.)
My district is the largest in the city and usually whatever we do, the smaller suburban districts follow suit. Eleanor is in one of those smaller districts and they also closed today, but others around the city are still open.
Even as I am typing this, the wind gusts are really picking up. Last I read, it was supposed to start this afternoon, with peak winds between 2 and 6 PM. Not just a little wind, but hurricane-force winds. We will probably lose power like the bad storm this summer, where some people were without power for up to two weeks. Hurricane force winds caused so much damage, downed lines and tree limbs blanketed streets, and transformers exploded. It was not fun, but luckily we were only without power for about 24 hours.
Hopefully things go better this time around and the damage is minimal. Or maybe the winds just calm the fuck down and it ends up being a false alarm. THAT would be great. In any event, we would appreciate prayers, happy thoughts, good vibes, or whatever it is you throw out into the universe!
Hope everything went OK for you & kiddo (plus the school!!). Strong winds are no joke - especially for small people and those who drive lightweight cars!
ReplyDeleteIt got pretty rough but no tornadoes touched down in the city, thank goodness. There were a handful outside Omaha but that's it. The tornado sirens went off five or six times, and when they they started going off the first time, we ran across the parking lot to my friend's backyard and hung out in her basement for a couple hours with her and her kiddos. I am really glad the district chose as they did, it hit right as elementary schools would've been getting out, and that would have been absolutely devastating.
DeleteUnusual weather has become our norm and high winds are nothing to be complacent about. I'm glad your school district recognizes that.
ReplyDeleteRight? But, climate change isn't a thing...I am so thankful they made that decision, it hit Omaha just as elementary schools would be letting out for the day. That would have been devastating.
Deleteyou all will have to change the state name to "Hurricane Alley"... hope you don't get blown away!
ReplyDeleteRight?!?! Those winds are no joke!
DeleteDoesn't sound good, Sarah. I hope all goes well for you and everyone in the state.
ReplyDeleteThank you, we are safe! It got pretty rough but no tornadoes touched down in the city, thank goodness. There were a handful outside Omaha but that's it. The tornado sirens went off five or six times, and when they they started going off the first time, we ran across the parking lot to my friend's backyard and hung out in her basement for a couple hours with her and her kiddos. I am really glad the district chose as they did, it hit right as elementary schools would've been getting out, and that would have been absolutely devastating.
DeleteWell, sometimes they do make good decisions. I hope this is it and you can go back to normal life. Whatever that is.
DeleteBy that evening winds had already died down a bit and we were able to go to school the next day. All is well again!
DeleteThat's good. Merry Christmas.
DeleteMerry Christmas!
DeleteHope you all stay safe! We're no stranger to strong winds here just north of Houston. Hurricanes have become an increasingly regular event, and the cleanup of tree debris that follows.
ReplyDeleteWe are safe, thank you! I can't imagine an actual hurricane, with one hundred times the water being brought from that storm. The rain was super heavy and for good stretches of time you could not see more than a few feet out the window. Not only is all this unusual weather becoming more common, but the severity is increasing exponentially!
DeleteI hope you stayed safe! The weather everywhere has been insane this month!
ReplyDeleteWe are safe, thank you! The sirens went off a bunch of times, and luckily one of my good friends' backyard literally backs up against our parking lot so Eleanor and I were ready to head over to her house right away. The kids played in the basement and the adults kept looking out the windows and sometimes going outside, because I can't ever not go out and look at a storm.
DeleteSuch a shame that Global Warming is a Myth. Otherwise it would explain *SO* much... [rotflmao]
ReplyDeleteYeah, right? I don't even know what you're talking about, global warming, ha! (UGH!)
DeleteLOLOLOLLlll!!
DeleteNooooo, that must be fake news. ;)
DeleteGlad you guys are okay! We had wind storms here too- I thought at one point we were getting a tornado it got so loud outside- but we probably didn't have it as bad as you guys did out there. And global warning? What global warning? I was just saying today how they've been sounding the alarm for years- decades... and we as a society just blithely do nothing. Infuriating.
ReplyDeleteIt was just such a perfect "storm" of conditions - so many states set record highs for this time of year, so of course tornados in December are a thing now. But eh, climate change, global warming...all a hoax *insert eyeroll here*. There were tornados around the eastern half of the state, but none touched down here in Omaha. Glad you are well!
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