Tennessee Weather… It’s Like a Box of Chocolates

Tennessee weather is so unpredictable! You never know what you are going to get. I know that many areas outside of our state think that we are crazy because we close our schools at the first sign of a snow flake. We close our schools at the threat of tornadoes. And closing schools for rain is not unheard of either. So when I got the call this morning to go pick up Tyler from school in Rutherford County, I was not surprised. The storms that have been rolling through our state over the past 24 hours have wreaked havoc in our lives. But this time it was different. This time Rutherford County Schools were closed, not because of the threat of storms, but rather some pretty severe damage that had occurred last night with a storm that rolled through the area. Because our weather is so unpredictable… we like to be prepared and cautious when it comes to our children.

Most of our state is currently under one or more types of storm warnings right now. Facebook statuses are inundated with status updates about something we see on the news. I think the big one for me today was the report of an elementary school in another county that was hit by a tornado while school was in session. I am definitely praying that those children and teachers are safe.

We can’t help but be glued to the television when storms are in our area. Even my dog is watching! And after the flooding that we experienced exactly a year ago, people are nervous. Waters have already washed away bridges and roads, and a few rescues have already taken place. We are praying that the meteorologist have it wrong again. The predictions of our rivers surpassing their flood levels have already began, and it is expected that within the next 48 hours the rivers will rise quite a bit. We are crossing our fingers to remain below flood levels. Waters will continue to rise for days even after the rain has stopped.

We are bracing for round four of the storms that have taken place over the past 24 hours. Those of you in the southwest… can you just have a talk with mother nature next time? We don’t like all this rain, tornadoes and flooding. Thanks!

And in case you want to see images from the flooding we experienced 360 days ago, watch this video! I will not be surprised if you haven’t ever heard about it since we did not get much national media coverage about it. But I warn you… some of the images will shock you!