Hey everyone! I am starting out this week’s blogs talking about a big fear of mine…tornados. I decided to write about this when just a few days ago we had tornado warnings where I live.
If anyone has heard anything about the Memorial Day tornados back in 2019 that is pretty much exactly where I live. Something like nineteen tornados touched down in my area that night. Luckily, my house did not get hit but only a mile or two away the houses were completely leveled. I just remember seeing the alert come across my phone and my dad actually being worried. When he is worried I know it’s bad. I do not have a basement and every room in my house has a window so my whole family crammed into our hallway because that was the safest place. I just sat under a blanket scared to death the whole time. Easily the scariest night of my life, but we were lucky because so many other people including some of my friends lost their home and so much more.
This past Friday gave me some PTSD of that night. We had some pretty bad storms and I got a tornado warning alert on my Alexa, so I ran straight to the hallway. For some reason our tornado sirens never went off. The city gave an explanation later that night, but I didn’t really understand it. While there were no tornados near me that night it did rain and hail super hard for a long time.
Now to connect this to social media. Sitting in my house Friday night after the storm had passed us I realized how much people will do to try and capture something for social media. They put their life at risk to get a good picture at a potentially deadly thing. These tornado alerts and sirens are there to let us know that we need to take shelter to protect ourselves. They are not there to say go get that perfect photo so it can go viral on Facebook. Yes, some people do get very cool pictures but is it worth the risk?
This is similar for all types of weather. It seems like no matter what is going on outside I am going to see it on someone’s social media. The most common one I see is when there is a rainbow, every single Snapchat story I look at is a picture of it.
Social media has just taken over our lives and people are willing to do literally anything to get noticed. Maybe I notice this because I am scared to death in these situations and do not leave my safe spot until I know it is safe, but still. Tornados are no joke and while seeing a picture of one is cool I just do not think it is worth the risk to go chase it for the perfect photo op.
I have included a picture of a map of all the tornados from Memorial Day 2019.
Photo from: https://www.daytondailynews.com/news/local/just-hoping-that-were-going-live-through/3Yj5BUNsKbsoBVueUqCwFO/
I remember when the tornados from Memorial Day 2019 happened. That was super scary and I wasn't even close to them. I agree that people are so wrapped up in social media and they will do anything to get noticed even if it means potential death. Some of the pictures are pretty cool but I don't think it is worth the risk. I was working on Friday when the tornado warnings came in and for the first time in my life I can say I was actually a little nervous about a tornado since I was so close to where they were spotted.
ReplyDeleteTornados are so scary! It is so shocking that people think they can be their own version of the storm chasers and risk their lives for a photo! Storms are pretty cool until they get dangerous. I am, however, somewhat guilty of this when it comes to large storm clouds that have forked lightening (from a safe distance though). I love taking those kinds of pictures!
ReplyDeleteI agree! Tornados can be horrifying and it can be really sad when people lose their lives and homes. I think it is crazy that people would get that close to a tornado just to take a picture! I’d be so scared to!
ReplyDeleteWhen I first think of tornados the Joplin, Missouri incident back in 2011 comes to my mind. The tornado outbreak that happened their was insane. One tornado was on the ground for 30 minutes and tore through 13 miles of houses and businesses. My closest encounter with a tornado was when my families farmland in Millbury, Ohio had a tornado outbreak in 2010. I remember the day after driving through the area where the tornados had touched down. The local high school was destroyed, many electrical towers were broken, and the neighborhood next to my families farm property was leveled. It is crazy what people will do for a photo or video. Mother nature is not very forgiving.
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