Caught in Storm Damage

Paperdragon

New member
Hi Everyone,

Well, our day at the Science Center turned out to be more of an
adventure than we bargained for. We (my 3yo son and 6yo daughter and
I) were on the top floor when the storms hit yesterday. We had
watched the skies darken and I had moved the kids and I away from the
windows because it looked a lot worse than usual.

When the storm hit, the windows went blackk and all we could see was
debris being blown by horizontally. At that point, the staff told us
to evacuate via the stairwells to the ground floor. As we walked to
the stairs, I looked down the ramp and saw piles of pink insulation
and broken glass. Water was pouring in from the roof. We found out
later that windows had blown out and in and a 20 x 30 foot section of
wall had blown off.

There were sounds of mass panic from people who had been on the ramps
and were running down them. For the most part, the people who were
evacuated via the stairs were calm. I was annoyed at how many people
didn't leave their strollers behind and were using two hands to carry
their strollers rather than helping their kids.

To the Science Center's credit, none of the staff we encountered were
panicing. As we passed the entrance to each floor, there were
smiling staff telling the kids how great they were doing.

When we got to the first floor, the area behind the front desk was
swamped with tearful kids who had been separated from their parents.
We were directed to one of the stage areas to wait, which were
arguably the safest places in the building as there was still a huge
thunderstorm right on top of us with several close lightening striked
every minute.

When we went in, there was water pouring in via the long columns
which extend up to the roof. I decided to take the kids out under
the large extended awning in front of the building (where at least
the ground was dry with that much random electricity running around)
and wait for an opening in the storms to get to the car. As that
storm was leaving we could hear another one coming from the opposit
direction, so we counted seconds between the lightnening and thunder,
waited as long as we could, and then ran to the car.

I found out on the news this morning that several people watching the
storm from SportsWorks (across the parking lot)had seen a funnel
cloud travel up the Ohio River and hit the Science Center. Also,
that the people who waited in the stage area were entertained with a
show about "The Science of Weather" as they waited out the storms.

My kids are holding up today, but scared. My 3yo keeps re-enacting
the evacuation with his toys chanting "Let's walk quickly and calmly,
look ahead!" and my 6yo is spending all her time on The Weather
Channel website forecast page and planning what days we won't leave
the house. Here are a couple of clips from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette if anyone is interested:



http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07222/808462-258.stm

http://www.post-gazette.com/downloads/StormAudio0810.mp3



I’m trying to emphasize the positive with my kids, pointing out how no one was seriously hurt, how well they followed instructions so we could get out quickly. I’m telling my daughter she is a hero because, as terrified as she was, she stopped to help her little brother into the car before getting in herself. My guess is they will need to process this for a while.
 
ADS
:eek: What a scare!! I'm so glad you're all safe, and that the science center did such a great job evacuating everyone!

I can't imagine worrying about a stroller in a situation like that...
 

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