I'm Living The Movie Final Destination

Koz · April 6, 2022

I think the Grim Reaper is stalking me.

We've had some extreme weather here in GA the past few days. Yesterday after work I went to the grocery store and as I'm leaving the store my phone blares with the warning "TAKE SHELTER NOW" because a tornado has been sited in the area. My first thought is, "Lord, please don't let me die in Ingles." As I'm hurrying to load my car I see the power go off in the store. Uh oh!

So now I'm thinking that the tornado must be close. I look around and listen, and I don't see or hear a tornado, so I jump in my car and head home, keeping an eye out for funnel clouds. As it turns out, the tornado passed overhead in my area but never touched down.

But then today happened.

As I'm driving home the sky is getting darker and darker and the rain starts coming down even harder. Keep in mind that I live out in farmland, and we have some narrow country roads with culverts on either side. There's a section of road near home that goes from pasture to some dense trees for a small stretch, and it's at that point where all hell broke loose.

The rain was coming down so hard that it was just a sheet of gray outside. I can barely see the road right in front of my car. Normally I rip through there at 60+ mph, but I was doing about 20 -25 in the driving rain. I got on the phone (hands free) to let my hotel know that extreme weather was about two minutes out and that if the power went out to give me a call (we don't have a generator, but we have various UPS devices to keep computer systems powered).

As I'm talking, there's a flash and lightning strikes a tree just up ahead. I slow down even more. Then I see the telltale purple sparks of electricity, but I can still barely see the road up ahead. I let out a few choice @#%$ and and the next thing I know power lines are right in front of me, going from 15 feet in the air to the ground right across the road. It turns out that right where the tree hit the power lines is where the lines normally cross the road to the other side. The power lines were just above me and right in front of my car when I finally saw them and stopped. If I was in a truck I probably would have hit the power lines. If I had been on that section of road 3 seconds sooner the lines would have fallen right on top of my car. 3 seconds.

So now I'm trying to back up on a narrow road with deep culverts on both sides, in a blinding rain in a car that even on clear days has little visibility out the rear window. I can't turn around in the road because I can't see and it's too narrow. There's not a driveway in site. I hang up with the hotel and call 911 to get them to block the road on either end so no one gets killed.

As I'm backing up, I have my flashers on and I'm in the left hand lane. Why the left hand lane? If someone comes up behind me in these low visibility conditions and I'm backing up, that gap between us will close fast and I don't want to get rear ended. Sure enough, a pickup comes up the road and as he starts to pass me I'm leaning on the horn while at the same time talking to the 911 dispatch.

Thankfully, the guy stops about 30 feet in front of me so I'm able to pull up to tell him what's going on. Another 50 feet and he would have hit the power lines. He had a big pickup, so he used it to block the road and wait for the Sheriff or fire department to arrive. I backed up, found a driveway, turned around, and took the long way home. There was still lightning everywhere, but I finally made it home. All I kept thinking about was those 3 seconds.

We're still in for heavy storms and under a tornado watch all night.

So now I'm wondering what tomorrow has in store for me. Or maybe I should just buy a lottery ticket.