The first hurricane I remember was named Carla. My parents decided to throw a hurricane party for the adults and while they were inside playing cards, the kids were outside running wild. It was scary, but at the same time exciting playing outdoors while the clouds grew dark and swirly. The wind began to howl and something in the air made us feel wild and free. We waded in the ditches, but when the lightning began to strike dangerously close, my mother told us to come in. Despite the feeling of fear in the air, it was exciting and we all remained in high spirits. I found it fascinating to see what the storm was doing outside.

It was a hot, steamy day. I forgot to bring my soccer shoes, so the coach made me play goalie in sandals. From where I stood I had a perfect view of the thunderclouds. The longer the game went on, the darker the sky got. By half-time it was pouring and the lightning strikes were so close that the referee stopped the game. I was crammed with my teammates in a canvas tent by the side of the field waiting for the storm to pass when we saw a twister starting at the bottom of the clouds. Before we realized what was happening, a tornado was spinning fast towards the ground. We were stunned how quickly everything happened. Fortunately, nobody was hurt but my teammate got lost when we started to run into hiding. When I found him, he was alright but really scared.

I was 10 years old then, and delighted to be enjoying the winter break from school. The snow fell very quickly. Each hour another inch of snow fell, building up rapidly. By the morning of the 24th, our car was buried in the driveway, and snow was piled up against the doors of the house. As the amount of snow increased dramatically, my sister and I couldn’t resist jumping off the roof of our garage into giant snowdrifts. When my mom got wind of this activity, we were quickly steered inside and got a major scolding.

That morning, the weatherman on the radio warned the listeners about strong thunderstorms moving east across New York City. Shortly before 7:00 a.m. the western sky was dark and deep booms rumbled through the air. This was really going to be a big one! At 7:10 a.m. the angry dark cloud was almost upon me. Then it hit. The explosive force of the thunder nearly knocked me off my feet. I couldn’t tell if my house had been hit. I turned toward the front door and paused briefly to see if the house was on fire. When the storm ended, I saw that lightning had completely destroyed the houses on both sides of ours. The view made me horrified. I felt worried about my neighbours but fortunately they all safely returned home.