tornadoes and flash flooding

Last friday we had the joy of experiencing yet another tornado warning. This is at least the 4th time the sirens have gone off since we've lived here (going on 7 months). But this time seemed a little bit scarier.

While watching TV the sirens starting sounding so I flipped through the channels to find the news to see what was going on. Of course, since we live in a tiny part of Missouri there wasn't any good coverage of the weather surrounding me. I finally landed on a station that showed a tiny map of the counties in the bottom left corner of the screen. Our county was in the hottest pink color...the only color I had yet to see it in...TORNADO WARNING! We've had plenty of tornado watches, but no warnings. Then the TV screen went black and a warning came through the TV saying "A TORNADO IS THREATENING FORT LEONARD WOOD! TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY!" So naturally I ran to the window to get a good look! I know, stupid, but I had never seen a tornado. But as the sirens kept squealing I decided to round up the dogs, Joelle, my shoes, purse, and first aid kit and sat in the hallway for about 5 minutes. Justin did manage to call from the school house to let me know they were in a "safe room" and wanted to be sure I knew what was going on. Soon after we talked the "all clear" sounded (which really is a ridiculous song that sounds like the ice cream truck is coming through) and I knew the thrill was over. I went back to cleaning up the kitchen and then a DOWNPOUR of rain came through. AHHHH....now we were under FLASH FLOODING. Within minutes our street was flooded by at least 4 inches of rain. AMAZING!