meteorologists

I'd never seen a green sky before living in the Midwest. I also didn't know the difference between a tornado watch and a tornado warning, and it took me a while to keep it straight. (A "watch" means the conditions are ripe for a tornado to form, a "warning" means one has been spotted.)

I learned that green sky spelled trouble, so when we saw ominous greenish clouds gathering one afternoon, we knew to turn on the TV. A tornado watch had been issued in our area, which then turned to a warning.

Then the tornado siren sounded outside. Time to take cover.

We didn't have a basement, so my husband and I grabbed our 4-year-old and shut ourselves into our first-floor bathroom, the only room in our townhome without any windows. The wind began to howl, getting louder and louder until it didn't sound like wind anymore. Imagine static blaring on a TV, only with more layers, both deeper and higher-pitched. The sliding glass door in our dining room rattled. Our daughter cried and I prayed. It lasted maybe five or ten minutes.