Tornado in an Outhouse
I’m sitting here this evening watching the weather on TV. Tornados are potentially on the ground a few miles away. I am reminded of a tornado experience several years ago.
My first job out of college was working for the Boy Scouts. Job #1 with the BSA was to be the Aquatics Director at summer camp. Before I could be certified as an official Aquatics Instructor, BSA, I had to attend National Camping School. So off to camp school for a week I went.
That year, 1990, National Camping School for my region was held at a camp in East Texas. For the uniniated, East Texas is full of TALL pine trees. There, more than 100 adults seeking certification for everything from Aquatics to Rifle shooting, spent each day learning the details of the safety rules, policy, etc. of the BSA.
My “expertise” was water sports. Never a great swimmer, in one week I was to learn how to swim, lifeguard, canoe, row, water ski, and sail. Sleeping in tents in the campsites, each “troop” (a group of adults assigned to a specific campsite) left camp each morning for the dining hall and then to their various program areas.
On about day 3, we left for breakfast and the sun was shining. By lunchtime, clouds had rolled in and the rain was coming down. Camp leadership asked for 1 member of each “troop” to go back to his campsite and tie down the tent flaps (tents were left open that morning when the sun was shining). I volunteered to go for our troop.
So, off I go in a downpour about a halfmile back to the campsite. No raingear, or anything else, just me in a swimsuit , tshirt and running shoes. As I run to camp, the rain continues to pour and the wind begins to howl.
Arriving at camp, I begin my job of tying down tent flaps. After about 10 minutes, the rain is coming down unmercilessly. THe wind picks up and I finish my job. Hearing really high winds, I decided to take cover in the campsite latrine (outhouse).
THinking that if a tree limb were to fall, having a wooden structure over my head might be a good thing. About 10 minutes later, the rain stops, the wind stops and I exit from the outhouse.
Walking back to the dining hall, I see trees fallen all along the trail. Walking past another campsite, I see an outhouse completely crushed to the ground by what had been a 60 foot tall pine tree. Walking past the swimming pool, I see the fence crushed by a large tree that has been blown over.
Arriving back at the dining hall, the power is off. Local radio is describing the TORNADO that has just swept through the area. It occurs to me at this point that I have just ridden out a tornado while sitting in an outhouse.
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