16. Tornado

Following the route of the North Platte river across Nebraska I was pursued by an ominous black cloud which occasionally sparked with lightning flashes.  I had managed to camp the whole trip except for Salt Lake City and didn’t want to spoil my record now so headed for Crystal Lake camping place on a dirt road near the town of Ayr.  It was dusk when I turned off the blacktop and heard behind me an urgent blast on a horn.  A fire department truck pulled up along side me.

“Crystal Lake’s a nice place to go, but maybe not tonight. We’ve had a tornado warning.  You can stay at our station until this is all over”.

I parked the bike in the station next to a fire truck while the volunteer crew assembled in response to the warning.  The sky to the West was now strobing with almost continuous lighting and the television weather station was broadcasting satellite computer maps of the storm with a commentary by the weatherman.  Suddenly he paused, his head inclining forward as a message came over his earpiece.

“We have a tornado on the ground near Holstein!  If you live in the area get in your storm shelter NOW!  If you don’t have a storm shelter go to the most secure room in your house.  Do it now, it could save your life!”

The name Holstein rang a bell and I looked at my map.  I had driven through it 12 miles west of here.  Suddenly the trunk of the tree opposite the fire hall turned horizontal as fierce winds hit and torrential rain and hail came down.  Then the power went out.  The generator was started and the weatherman said,

“Tornado on the ground near Roseland”- eight miles west. 

We were still standing in the part open roller doors of the station watching the storm.  I was thinking, “Don’t these things just drop out of the sky without warning?  Shouldn’t we be taking cover?”  The fire engine looked pretty heavy and I had decided to get under it and hold on to the exhaust pipe if anything happened.  Then I realized that the big, strong farm boys who made up the crew probably relished the experience.  Fighting storms and wild broncos was probably how they got their kicks.

“C’mon tornado.  Let’s see what y’got”.

The chief manning the radio said ,.  “The satellites down.  They’re relying on us now”.

There were no more touch downs in our area that night but the rain continued in torrents.  The fire fighters went off to clear a tree from a ditch.  When they came back they said,

“Well, you can’t go anywhere tonight.  We’ll put up a cot for you here to sleep.  Help yourself to a soft drink from the fridge and let yourself out in the morning”

I watched Jay Leno on the TV, then turned in for a surprisingly peaceful nights rest.