Boonville
Back Story: I went to Chicago over the weekend with Laura and her sister Amy for a Beth Moore Conference. More on that (and pictures!) later...
Sunday, we were continuing our road trip back to Lawrence, enjoying the nice weather and Coke with Lime from Quik Trip in St. Louis. We are driving through Boonville, MO reminiscing about some fun times we had there on the way back from Passion, when traffic on I-70 was suddenly taken down to one lane. We figure there is an accident, so we role down the windows and crank up the music while I keep the car at a steady 3 mph. There was some lightening in the distance, but I didn't think much of it. As we take the CD out of the player the radio comes on, and the announcer is discussing tornadoes that are touching down in our area. Oh..... We realize we are completely surrounded by very severe storms that are carrying with them tornadoes and baseball size hail. Just the kind of thing you want to be on I-70 for, right?
A few minutes down the road, they completely shut down I-70, exitting us all off the highway because of an overturned semi. So, we join about 35 other people at a small Conoco just off the exit ramp. Everyone is trying to figure out what's going on, and everyone has a different story. We find out from people back home that storms are completely surrounding us, basically travelling down I-70. Great. We meet some people headed back to Lawrence and Kansas City, and try to figure out what to do next. We find out from the highway patrol that it's not at all safe to travel west. They say the best bet is to head back east to Boonville. So, we meet up with our new found friends at the Holiday Inn and camp out around the TV in the lobby. The sirens were going off, kids were crying, and the hotel staff was getting extremely irritated. Craziness. After re-opening I-70, they shut it AGAIN, because of damage from a tornado. After a few more storms developed and passed through I-70, they once again re-opened the road. By then, all the others headed to the Lawrence area had decided to stay in Boonville. Amy, Laura, myself, and our new friend Ryan decided to head home around 1 am. The damage on I-70 was apparent, with many flipped over semi's, signs completely bent over backwards, or uprooted from the ground.
I made it home around 3 am, to a pitch black and freezing house without power. It had been out since Sunday morning at 8, and we didn't get it back until today at 1 pm. I was surprised to see just how much damage Lawrence had received. Every street you're on something has been ripped up, glass broken, or tree limbs down.
Anyhoo, I'm glad to be home safe. Chicago was good times, and I will post about that soon.
Sunday, we were continuing our road trip back to Lawrence, enjoying the nice weather and Coke with Lime from Quik Trip in St. Louis. We are driving through Boonville, MO reminiscing about some fun times we had there on the way back from Passion, when traffic on I-70 was suddenly taken down to one lane. We figure there is an accident, so we role down the windows and crank up the music while I keep the car at a steady 3 mph. There was some lightening in the distance, but I didn't think much of it. As we take the CD out of the player the radio comes on, and the announcer is discussing tornadoes that are touching down in our area. Oh..... We realize we are completely surrounded by very severe storms that are carrying with them tornadoes and baseball size hail. Just the kind of thing you want to be on I-70 for, right?
A few minutes down the road, they completely shut down I-70, exitting us all off the highway because of an overturned semi. So, we join about 35 other people at a small Conoco just off the exit ramp. Everyone is trying to figure out what's going on, and everyone has a different story. We find out from people back home that storms are completely surrounding us, basically travelling down I-70. Great. We meet some people headed back to Lawrence and Kansas City, and try to figure out what to do next. We find out from the highway patrol that it's not at all safe to travel west. They say the best bet is to head back east to Boonville. So, we meet up with our new found friends at the Holiday Inn and camp out around the TV in the lobby. The sirens were going off, kids were crying, and the hotel staff was getting extremely irritated. Craziness. After re-opening I-70, they shut it AGAIN, because of damage from a tornado. After a few more storms developed and passed through I-70, they once again re-opened the road. By then, all the others headed to the Lawrence area had decided to stay in Boonville. Amy, Laura, myself, and our new friend Ryan decided to head home around 1 am. The damage on I-70 was apparent, with many flipped over semi's, signs completely bent over backwards, or uprooted from the ground.
I made it home around 3 am, to a pitch black and freezing house without power. It had been out since Sunday morning at 8, and we didn't get it back until today at 1 pm. I was surprised to see just how much damage Lawrence had received. Every street you're on something has been ripped up, glass broken, or tree limbs down.
Anyhoo, I'm glad to be home safe. Chicago was good times, and I will post about that soon.
posted by katie at 6:51 PM
4 Comments:
glad you made it back safe, now we can get coffee and hang. boonville is a horrible place (remembering the experience there) see ya...
D <><
Katie, I'm very glad you're safe and that you answered your phone yesterday morning! If you wouldn't have- there would have been some calls to local hospitals and police stations!! But God is our protector and I should have known you were perfectly safe. (It's just the worried momma in me) :)
Dude. Your Sunday was way more exciting than mine (which consisted of watching Katie Horner on the TV in the basement and eventually falling asleep with Sam—who was terrified—on me while listening to the hail.) Mine was downright relaxing...except for those pesky sirens that kept going off...
Glad you're ok. :)
I know how scary that can be!!! I was in a tornado once, i bawled the entire time; hey! at least you got to meet new friends! :)
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