by Richard L. Thornton, Architect & City Planner
I was on the Windstream telephone, talking with someone in India and complaining that yet again, there were scratchy noises on my telephone and my internet was cycling on and off. The man in India was reading from a sheet of paper, prepared by a lawyer, telling me how sincere Windstream Telephone is in wanting to provide the best possible communication services. However, I would have to pay an additional $49.99 a month for premium technical services in order to have the problem investigated.
Then I was surprised to hear the neighborhood fire station testing its sirens this late on a Wednesday afternoon.
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My NOAA Emergency Radio went off . . . “Tornado Warning at your location. Take cover now! “
Then the woods exploded and ground shook from the thunder, while leaves and limbs whisked by the window. This was the real thing. I immediately ended my wasted call with a customer service agent in India for an Arkansas company.
The tornado moved from the right side to the left side of my view. It seemed to skim the southern edge of my property . . . about 1500 feet away. Too close for comfort.
Do not try this experiment home alone.
The Americas Revealed 
I’m glad you’re ok. My weather radio notified me of that tornado warning in Clarkesville. I spent the afternoon getting out candles and lanterns, hurricane lamps, and oil lamps. I hope I have enough water because if the power goes out, there’s no water. And I charged up two power banks so I can recharge my phone if I need to. Of course, if the power goes out I have no internet, and there’s no cell phone service at my house. I would have to walk down the highway to make a cell phone call if the power goes out, so I’m one of the only people I know who still has a landline and an old landline phone to use during emergencies. I’m not worried at all. Haha. Clearly I am. I just ate 5 cookies, 2 cupcakes and a large bowl of popcorn and drank a cup of coffee at 5 p.m. No, I’m not worried about this coming tropical storm at all. LOL
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Obviously, you have a landline phone, too, because that’s what you were talking on to the man in India.
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It really wasn’t in Clarkesville or central Habersham as NOAA radio was saying. The tornado apparently came down in the White County section of the Nacoochee Valley then headed northeastward along the southern face of Alec Mountain. The ground and house were shaking here.
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Scary!
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Is Alec Mountain where you get your post name? Raining now and has for severl days in Savannah. I guess Tornado Alley deserves its name: that path up the Missisippi River.
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just wait till thursday night’s hurricane hits!
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That is not funny! I remember Hurricanes Zeta and Open. They get very violent when they slam into the Blue Ridge Mountains.
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I am in the path, also! Just northeast of Atlanta, but heavy flash flooding warning lines stop 5 miles from my apartment!
I am 1.5 hours away from the path of the eye, but not the rain!
expecting a foot of rain so far, lets see as the day develops.
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I am 30 miles from Blue Ridge Parkway, southeast, hilly where I live, I expect to see water over some roads in the news, trees down.
Reedy River through downtown is going to be flowing!
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WHOAAAAA NELLY! That is intense! Love the line about the Arkansas company! The irony would’ve been if you’d been swept to India.
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The worse is yet to come. We have a hurricane like Hurricane Opel projected to slam into the mountains. That produces a lot of tornadoes also!
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Well I don’t envy but certainly will be thinking of you in your bunker! Best!
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I don’t have a bunker and live on the crest of the mountain . . . but with 12-16″ rain expected on Friday, tis better than being in the Valley next to the Chattahoochee River. Helen, GA will be a lake.
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Wow Richard! That was a close call! Glad you’re okay.
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Unfortunately, the worst is yet to come! At least I don’t live down in some mountain valley, where creeks and rives are rapidly becoming torrents.
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WOW! That was too close for comfort! Glad you’re okay!
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Thank you! but the worst is yet to come. We are expecting more tornadoes, 75 mph straight line winds and up to 30 inches of rain over a 5 day period!
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Been there, but hopefully not this time. Be safe, my friend. 🙏
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😮 Wow…that was nearly curtains! First electrocution and now slinging funnel clouds at you. Old Thor seems to have picked you for the brunt of his attention lately. Lay low!
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
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OMG Richard, I would be petrified. Glad you are o.k.
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I am OK, but there is massive devastation in this part of the Southeastern United States from Hurricane Helene. One-third of the homes in our county are without electricity. However, our county is labeled “moderate damage” because in many counties in NW Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee, all of the homes have no electricity. Several cities in the Appalachian Mountains are inaccessible by automobiles because all roads are blocked by collapsed bridges or rock slides.
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