Out in the storm

Today at 1:30, I was on campus in the thick of the worst storm I have ever seen. I went to the Writing Center at 1 to meet with a student who was supposed to take the writing diagnostic and be added to the class, but unknown to me, she had sent an email saying that she found she had another class that conflicted with this one, so would not be coming.
When I arrived on campus, it was raining, but nothing particularly bad. But while I was inside the Writing Center, talking to colleagues, the sky was getting darker and the rain heavier, until at about 1:20, when I had to go across campus to the library to be videotaped for the college's anniversary celebration, I suddenly realized that the sky was dark as night, lit up only by lightning. Thunder boomed constantly, and I knew that the storm was very close to where I was, vulnerable with my useless umbrella--useless because the wind was blowing so hard that I was wet from top to bottom, my hair flying in the wind. I honestly thought I might be blown away or be hit by lightning. But in an hour, the storm had passed, and though we were told a tornado had passed over very close by, and one had actually touched down in Fullerton, about 30 minutes away, and another in Costa Mesa, about 20 minutes away, we were okay for the moment. The sun was out, and people continued about their business.