Auntie Em, Uncle Henry, It’s a Twister
Written by Ashley Kelmore, Posted in Adventures
I got up yesterday and consulted my blackberry as I do every morning, especially when I’m on call. I saw, around 6:30, a tornado warning issued. Crazy, right. There were some major storms that work me up very early, but a tornado? Please.
I left my apartment around 7:15. It was hot and nasty and sticky already, but I only had three avenues to get across, then I could take respite in the over-cooled 6 train. I swiped my Metrocard, and heard the announcement that there was no 4, 5, or 6 train service where I needed to go because of track flooding. Bummer. Luckily, I was only about five blocks from the F train, but when I got there, it, too, was shut down. So I continued on to 59th and Lexington to try to catch the R, which goes kind of near my office. No dice. Everything was shut. At this point, it was raining a bit, and still really, really hot and humid. I started walking. Buses were packed full or missing in action, and there were dozens of people waiting to try to get on. I emailed my boss and her supervisor. One response was “You should move back to Brooklyn.” Thanks.
I kept walking. Along the 6 line, just in case it would start running again. I contemplated trying to walk across town to get the A or C, which goes right to my office. A well-timed call to Allegra confirmed that those trains were down, too. Damn. I kept walking. Got to Union Square (about three miles from my home) around 8:45. Still no trains. Got a page to report to the situation room at the office. Emailed back saying I’d be there . . . eventually. Was told to take a cab. Riiiight. Because me and the other 1.5 million Manhattanites hadn’t thought of that. Not a cab in site that wasn’t full.
I finally got to Broadway Lafayette, where I was told trains were running to Brooklyn. After 20 minutes on the world’s hottest subway platform, a Q train came. Q doesn’t usually run there, which meant it was going to be stopping a good 20-minute walk from the office. But at least I’d be in the right borough. At this point I’d walked about 4 miles in nasty heat. I was over-tired, dehydrated, sweaty, and just over it. The train went over a bridge, and I got an email from a coworker/friend asking if I was stuck and needed a ride. He picked me up at the train station, which was a saving grace.
I then walked in, washed up, and went straight to work in the sit room, where I stayed until 7:30, when I had to leave for class. Why a sit room for a storm? Because there were TWO TORNADOES. Two. One in Brooklyn and one in Staten Island. Nutty, right?
