Everyone from SW Mo OK?

[Melalvai]

You are right that people are taking the warnings more seriously because of Joplin. We used to sleep right through the watches, but the night after Joplin we were WIDE AWAKE during the ~hr long watch at 1:30 am. Our hallway that is the only interior "room" in the house, if you close all the doors, no longer seems quite adequate as a shelter.

The house we're moving into tomorrow has a basement. Unfortunately, this is also an area prone to floods, so basements aren't a great idea. I guess the ideal house for this area has one of those closets that doubles as a storm shelter, regardless of exterior or interior walls.

[sundial]

Sedalia was hit yesterday too, and I think people are taking the warnings a lot more seriously since Sunday.

After the Joplin tornado and the potential for the second one to hit, I had heard that survivors were writing their names and info on their bodies in case they end up in the morgue.

Melalvai, I guess at this point it's better to have a basement than none at all. Besides, you can store your canned goods down there. Hubby and I are shopping for tornado safe rooms that can be installed in the garage. I really like this one.

[Bike Chick]

There was also one in Ellsinore, Missouri and several sighted in my area of Illinois last night. Our junior college and many businesses closed early because of the threat of storms. It's good that people are being more cautious and heeding the warnings. I just hope they don't get complacent when the sirens go off.