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I suggest moving this to "off topic" later tonight...OR (simply) moving it to the cornfield.

...so a tornado formed in Little Rock a few minutes ago, and tore up some stuff...

That stuff is headed this way.

I'm leaving here in 45 minutes and driving east (same direction as the storm front)...so I'll be driving UP AHEAD of the storm front.

My rehearsal (beginning at 6:00 P.M.) is in an early 1960's-built "civic center" which is thought to be one of the most tornado-resistant structures in that city. As a matter-of-fact, over a decade ago, a church IMMEDIATELY next to the civic center was FLATTENED by a tornado, and the civic center was unscathed.

Further, the civic center (thick concrete and heavy steel) has a basement...so BLOKE WILL BE FINE...so no "I HOPE BLOKE IS OK" stuff will be necessary...and I won't be posting anything about "hey guys...I'm ok"...nor anything like that.

Mrs. bloke and my son will be in this BOLTED TOGETHER log house which ALSO has a basement...
...so no need to fret over them, either. They will go down there if they need to, and with Covid and Cuddles the cats...The pet dog will be kenneled down there as well... The lifestock's guard dog has never been out of his pasture (ever). He has shelter and dog houses, and gets in the dog house (within the shelter) when there is a storm. He will NOT walk on a lease, would have to be carried to the basement (100+ lbs. - and fighting all the way) and would freak out down there...so no.

Yeah, we had 21 deaths LAST WEEK and it will start up for us at 10:00 tonight AS I AM DRIVING HOME.

I honestly am tired of this crap. Wife and four cats have set up the small bathroom and will probably be in it when I get home at 11:00 tonight.

If my car is whisked up into the funnel I’ll be sure to post come cool pics.

Ugh…

update:

I'm tacet on "Wake Me Up Before You Go".

And I was all set to complain about getting another 6-8 inches of snow tonight. I'm gonna shut my mouth...

...but then open it a little bit to say a prayer for y'all down there. I hope nothing else terrible happens, it's been bad enough already. God Bless.

probably time to cornfield the thread

Home! Bad weather predictions amounted to bupkis. However, under yet another tornado watch until 4:00 a.m.

I was tacet on Ravel but had a load of fun playing the Sierra and the Saint-Saëns. Great stuff! Was your tacet for the WHAM! piece by that name? Being tacet on that would be a blessing.

This was a weird rehearsal. Everybody was herded into the kitchen of the Civic Center due to tornado sirens, but - per typical - the low brass did not comply. We sat outside on the concrete steps to the upper tier and looked off 15 miles to the north - where there was actually a bad storm that was a "possible tornado"...Of course, all anyone has to do is look at their phone and see exactly where the hail, lightning, and possible rotation is located.
When everybody got back on stage and continued rehearsing, the rehearsal itself was weird, because we were rehearsing backup charts for a rock band coming in tomorrow to play a bunch of '80s crap, and almost no melody, almost no anything except chords and some rhythmic figures. I played cimbasso on nearly everything (per specific request) but refused to play it on one piece that was low (like "down to low E-flat low") in E-flat major sort of ballad-like (hell... I wasn't paying any attention to pop in the '80s, and don't know any of these tunes, so don't ask me the name of it), and was a real legato bass line - rather than a bunch of punchy rhythmic crap. This was my third concert in a row of not playing the tuba, and I wanted to play the damn tuba...at least a little bit... I like to hear Fat Bastard do what it does (It's pretty cool), and in some place other than inside my house.

I have a cousin who with her husband and family live in a suburb of Little Rock. Fortunately, they weren't hit, but the tornado damage is as bad as you see on the news, or worse, as more details come to light.

We got some things in northern Illinois, but nothing where I live… Just a few counties over. We got the wind gusts and heavy rain for about 5 minutes.

Glad to hear everyone is fine!

Covington, TN was the closest-to-me tornado, this time.

It's an hour from my house and an hour from this gig (triangle).

Maybe for once I'm glad I live where I do, but on the other side of town, where there is a "storm alley," it would be not so much.
I grew up in Indy and understand tornadoes, although I never had to live through one, and I understand how it is. I remember the half-mile-wide swath in Russiaville on Palm Sunday when I was a kid.

For those who have Facebook accounts, I posted a link to some Covington, Tennessee damage. It's northeast of Memphis and northwest of where I'm playing and rehearsing this weekend.

I posted it in the Wade tornado thread in the lounge forum, because I sort of think this thread needs to probably be cornfielded.