Where Were You?

Howard County had a visit from Mayhem yesterday. A confirmed tornado  touched down in Western HoCo as a part of a violent thunderstorm yesterday afternoon. Great news: no known injuries or deaths. Bad news: significant property damage, downed trees, power outages.

Where were you when the call came to take shelter? I was at an appointment at an office on the first floor of a heavily-built concrete building in Columbia. We could hear the storm but it didn't sound all that severe from where I was. A quick review of social media shows residents weathering the storm:

• At Home Depot
• In their basement
• At the Mall
• In a stairwell at HoCo Rec and Parks
• Having an indoor sing-along at Girl Scout Camp
• Face down in the auditorium at Howard High School
• Stuck in traffic on the way to get gas
• In a car on the way to pick up a child at camp

We sometimes joke about how many notifications we get when a storm is imminent. I don't know if there's any correlation whatsoever, but the fact is the nobody got hurt yesterday. Might just be dumb luck. Still, a reason to be thankful.

Information on the County response to the storm can be found here. Info specific to Western Howard County is here.