Terror on the Flats

I was driving home from town after picking up some groceries and had my eye on the sky. It was dark and spooky and I just figured it was from the mountain fire burning near Laramie Peak. I thought maybe we’d get a sprinkle or two and that was it. Patrick left town after me and was about 6 or 7 miles behind. As I went through the entryway of the ranch, Patrick called and asked where I was. I told him “at the entryway” and he said go to the main house and take cover in the basement, there is a tornado on the Mule Shoe Ranch Flats. I looked to my right and saw this:

He said he was turning around to go back to that ranch and take cover in their barn. I kept driving, pushing my little Honda hard on the rocky road. Scared, breathless and full of anxiety, I stopped for another shot.

The wind started to blow harder and I could hear the roar of this funnel in the distance. Even though this was a couple miles away, the sound of it was clear and was kind of like a constant thunder roll.

I stopped for another shot and then pushed the pedal to the floor and ran inside our house to get my kitty cat.

I put Matilda in her carrier and went to the main house and watched to see if it was getting close to us. It didn’t make it to the ranch. This was the first time when shooting an event that I’m glad I didn’t get a close up.

Once I knew we were safe, I took Matilda back home and watched the storm move all around us.

It was a spooky hour in the afternoon, we are all okay and I’m so glad no one was killed. There was some structural damage closer to town and one injury but not a serious one. I heard this morning that a cow as killed. It could have been worse and I’m thankful that it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.

We had these storms in Georgia but I was fortunate enough to always sleep through them. I’ve never been this close to actually see the funnel. And out here, as a friend of mine pointed out, you can see a storm miles away and have time to take cover. Some towns aren’t so lucky.

If you were in or around Wheatland yesterday and want to share your tornado experience, please do so in the comments. Or any of you out there, if you have a storm story, share it. I’d love to hear from you all.

Godspeed Wheatland. Thinking of you who were closely affected.

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