So. . . what's a tornado doin' around this neck o' the woods?

 

 We had a tornado touch down in downtown Elmira at 4 PM yesterday.

 Elmira's 10 miles south of us. .  But - Everything's fine here at the Woods Edge.

 Paul and I were  out with friends for our weekly Thursday lunch  and it was mentioned that there was a severe storm coming through around 4:00.  The weather looked lovely then.  So it was nothing to even think about. 

At about 10 to 4 I looked outside, and sure enough, it had gotten dark - almost black as night.  Then it started to rain and the wind picked up.  I found Paul  in the garage working (He's putting up a drop ceiling.).  I was concerned that he'd left the windows open upstairs.  No.  So we watched the storm from the garage.  I love a good storm. 

 Then the wind really picked up, so we came inside and put on NBC.  They mentioned a tornado coming towards Elmira, which is where we get all our local tv.   Shortly after,  NBC went off the air,  so we turned to other channels that one by one went off the air, but not before we could see a local weather map with all the towns near us.  The tornado was south of us and not moving towards us, but towards the east.  We weren't in its path.  So we didn't need to run to the cellar with Gracie.  Like Toto in The Wizard of Oz.   BTW - she was great.  It didn't bother her in the least.  I think she even slept. 

We assumed we'd lose electricity.  (at least I did.) But we didn't.  There was a bit of grumbling from me about "a little tiny generator."  And where were the flashlights? Well, we lost our cable system - which includes tv, internet and phone.  Thank goodness for cell phones! We got calls from Greg in Fla. and Jeff in Ontario NY. 

 Today I went to Curves, in Elmira Heights.  I called before I left to make sure they were open and the roads were okay, and they were. The talk there was all about it.

 From what they said, and the newspaper confirmed it, it touched down right in the middle of the city, damaging several buildings, downing trees all over the place, limbs hitting roofs, cars.  Emergency vehicles were called from all surrounding towns as far away as Bath.  Lots of power off in Elmira still today.

 BTW - In the beginning there were a lot of rumors going on - these are local tv stations receiving news by the minute. . . .Macy's roof was off, the Clemens Center roof was also damaged (that's the big theater around here for shows.).  Glad they were rumors, although the Mall was on emergency power, as was our wonderful food store, Wegmans - which is still on auxiliary power.  (And has lost a lot of food.  That's news from Curves - so not sure if that's true.)

We've certainly had worse, here, at the Woods Edge.  Power outages are not a regular occurance, but they occur often enough, that we expect them when severe weather happens.  So - being without cable was not that bad, plus the cable was restored before we went to bed. (Nancy called from Chicago this afternoon on our regular phone to ask how we were.)

 I got a lot of reading time on my Kindle, so I was happy.  I had a good book, which is another story unto itself. A pun - I think - story? - Ha.   If I remember, I'll write about it. If anyone wants me to.

BUT the Olympics Opening Ceremony is on tonight and it's broadcast on NBC which  is still off the air.  That's pretty devastating stuff when you think about it.  Perhaps they'll tape it, or do something else.   If they do, I'll give them a hug.  I'm not a particular sports fan, but I love to watch the Olympics.