The Sounds of the Siren

The Siren Sounds

About 2 hours ago our tornado sirens went off.  I didn't think too much of it but the images and videos of Joplin, Missouri started to run through my mind.  Once I got a text from a buddy of mine who rarely is affected by storms saying "this is crazy man, i'm going in the basement" and a follow up call from my brother-in-law asking if we were okay and saying the worst was yet to come, I decided it was time to move.

We live in an apartment on the second story.  Every room of the place has a window so there is no ideal place to go.  Upon listening to the weather and the police scanners I figured I should take the family to my parents and go wait in the basement there just to be safe.  Thankfully my parents live about 2 blocks away.  

I went to gather a few things that I thought I would need and raced over to my parents carrying my sleeping daughter while my wife grabbed our son in his car seat.  Honestly I didn't really even buckle her in that well.  Just put her in and used the first clasp and we were off.  It was very dark...too dark.  And we were headed right for it.  A quick left onto my parents street and we parked and ran into the house.  As soon as we got into the house the wind picked up unbelievably.  It was at this point I realized this was probably the best bet.

We were met by my parents, sister and brother-in-law and some relatives that were in town.  We went down into the basement and setup camp.  All the kids were playing around on blankets with old toys that were down there while all the men were monitoring the situation on different devices.

My dad has a old battery powered radio that I remembered playing with and he was listening to the news.  My brother-in-law had the iPhone and was bringing up the doppler radar.  I had my Android and had the local police scanner going.  Mom was handing out fruit snacks and water to all the kids.  The women were talking and spending time with the littlest children.

After about a half hour things seemed to be okay.  We were relaxed and nothing serious seemed to be happening.  As I was standing around with my brother-in-law and father, I started to pull out everything that I brought.  It was at this point that I realized I had nothing that I truly cared about.  I have an Xbox, flat screen TV, laptops, netbooks, iPad, movies, Wii, flashlights knives, couches, beds, pictures and other material possessions.

All I brought was tools, tools that I thought could help assist in saving mine or my families life.  That's it.  I left my house expecting to come back to nothing and I brought 2 phones, 1 charger, 4 knives, 2 flashlights, 1 watch, 1 chapstick and my wallet.  I laid it all out on the steps while we were talking and I could carry everything in two hands.  The more I thought about it, the more I realized how insignificant everything else I had was/is.  I walked out of my house with about $500 worth of tools to survive and I was okay with that.  I didn't regret anything I had left behind nor was I debating what to take.  I grabbed exactly what I thought I would need.  Nothing more.

The point of this post is that I don't need the material things in life.  So what if I don't have the best or latest and greatest.  It is just a thing.  Something that in the heat of the moment you are just going to leave behind to get destroyed.  There is nothing more important than family and protecting them.

Below is a list and reason of item specifics in picture.

Phones:

BlackBerry 9800 Torch - Great battery life in case needed for up to 3 days.

Samsung Captivate (Android) - Weather Apps, Police Scanner, Entertainment for kids while waiting.

Charger - Fits both phones.  Charged while waiting in case needed for prolonged use in the future.

Flashlights: 

SureFire E1B Flashlight - Excellent source of light when power goes out.  37 hours on 5 lumens/1.3 hours on 110 lumens.

SureFire G2X Pro Flashlight - Wife had this.  45 hours on 15 lumens/2 hours on 200 lumens.

Knives:

Spyderco Aqua Salt - Primary knife for situations like this.  Rustproof and perfect sized fixed blade knife.  Cheap enough to loose and great cutter.

Spyderco Atlantic Salt - Extra rustproof knife.

Spyderco Endura - Cheaper knife.  Easy folder, giveaway to someone if needed.

Spyderco H1 Dragonfly - Little knife for the wife to take just in case.  Rustproof.

Other:

Synergy Watch - In case both phones died I would be able to keep track of date and time.

ChapStick - Nothing worse than chapped lips.  Even in prolonged hours, chapped lips suck.

Wallet - Credit cards/ID in case I needed to get a hotel somewhere farther away from location.

(Not Pictured) Cargo Shorts - A good amount of pockets to carry all items in picture comfortably.