The tornado

I am halfway through a habeas case at work when Jill, a coworker, turns to me and says:

Jill: “Tornadoes in downtown Minneapolis!”
Me: “What what?”
Jill: “That’s what they are saying on NPR. Check online.”

Sure enough, reports are coming in that a Tornado touched down near my apartment. The local websites say that the storm is heading northeast. I work southeast of downtown Minneapolis, so I figure it is safe to leave work and check on the dog.

And I am wrong.

The drive home is the second-most terrifying drive I have ever been on.

I am a quarter mile away from work when the radio tells me that tornado warnings were just issued for the area that I am driving through. Where’s Helen Hunt when you need her?

The tornadoes that hit downtown were rain wrapped, so the blinding rain that I hit on the Mendota bridge is not appreciated. I am convinced that my car will be tossed into the air Back-to-the-Future style and I will be forever known as the idiot who died while driving during a tornado watch.

But there are no flying lessons in store for me. I manage to avoid the tornado-hit sections of town (and the flooded highway) and make it home to a “What the hell are you doing here?” look from the dog.
I walk the dog and decide to go back to work, but I forget that the highway is shut down and I end up following a detour right into the tornado-hit area of town.
Trees are down, cars are damaged, and bored-looking cops are directing traffic away from the neighborhood.

It was a mess, but nothing like Miami’s hurricanes or last winter’s snowmageddon.

Everything turned out fine, but I can’t help feeling like I traded one natural disaster for another…

Edit: here’s video of the tornado