Texas storm-cellar stories (Abilene, Spring: house, tornado, live)

[TexasReb]

Greetings fellow Texans!

FIRST of all, I want to extend prayers and thoughts to all affected by Ike. Hopefully, when all is said and done, it will not have caused nearly the toll originally predicted. There are reasons to be optomistic on this. I surely hope so...

On a somewhat lighter note though, I got to wondering if any of y'all have any "cellar" stories to share? That is, humorous memories of being in one of those underground dugouts known as a Texas storm-cellar?

By way of explanation, a year or so back, some of us on the webzine I occasionally contribute to, got to tossing around a few of our own. The common denominator was that them thangs of the "old days" could be AWFUL scary to a kid.

Here was my little (edited from original) contribution to the discussion (which I think I started to begin with! LOL):
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It is my unalterable opinion that the place where the things we fear most are to be found in greatest abundance in those ancient home-dug "storm cellars" in the small towns and rural areas of the South. Things that bite and slither and crawl and have big eyes and ugly 6 -8 legs and fangs and all that terrify the strongest amongst us. And can only exist within said confines...the light of day would kill them off so they must await in their own netherworld. And abandon hope all ye who enter...

I remember -- as a kid -- being at a small family gathering on a night when "a cloud came up" -- as the older relations used to call a full-blown Texas thunderstorm.

Back in the early 60's there wasn't the storm spotter networks, Doppler radar, or even dependable weather reports from radio or television that there are now...especially in the little towns where reception was often poor to begin with. A lot of times -- for sure when the power in the house went out -- instinct had to be relied on. And when some of those tough ol' kin of mine decided it was time to "go to the cellar," then by gawd, it was serious!

Anyway, from the dim memories of early childhood, I recall my grandmother carrying me through the flashing lightning and crashing thunder, the screaming winds and driving rain and hail as the whole bunch headed next door to the dug-out cellar in a neighbor's back yard.

But what I remember even MORE was going down those rickety wooden steps, and then back into the deepest depths of that dank, musty old cavern.

One or two half-candles provided the only light available and that just made the shadows on the grave-like walls even more spooky, turning them into demented shapes that clawed out at me. Occasionally, other crawling things could be seen to slither back into the almost dark corners, while cobwebs hung everywhere. And the many multiple eyes of 8-legged creatures glowed green and red in the semi-darkness, staring unblinking holes in me, and within their primitive brains, I knew -- in the way a 4 year old just knows -- they were all intent on that, "Randy? Boy...we are going to eat youuuu BWHAHAHAHAHA...."

I managed to make it out alive, but later in life I heard sworn tales concerning grown men who had actually pulled off their own heads rather than take the chance of a much more horrible death in a century-old cellar.

I think I am going to have nightmares tonight....

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Any of y'all remember anything similar...?

[edubya]

Great story! I wish I had something to contribute, but I've never had to ride a storm out in a cellar. Of course, I've been in thunder boomers where I wished we had a cellar.

[TexasHorseLady]

I've never used our storm shelter. The strangest "story" I have about it involves having a nice gentle rain one night, waking up, reading that it rained 9 inches in 4 hours upstream (a nice little creek runs through our property), and then having my husband go out to get something out of the storm shelter and come in to report that it was full to the top with water - the creek had come up that far (WAY past the hundred year flood plain line), flooded the storm shelter, and then retreated back to its banks, all without us knowing. (This means that the water was up to our house, but we're on pier and beam.) Been nervous about using it ever since.

[destin04]

Unless I'm looking at a F4 or F5....I'm taking my chances in the windowless bathroom or closet. The only time I ever got into a storm shelter there was an ol snake down there waiting for us to leave.

[TexasReb]

I got permission from one of my good friends -- a native Alabaman -- to share this one of hers. Her name is Dana, and I always thought it one of the best and funniest I ever read on this subject. She too writes some for the "webzine" I mentioned earlier. I LOVE it! Bet y'all will too! Here it is:
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I hate storm pits!

My granddaddy next door had an old one sitting in his back yard that we used every year when the tornadoes came around. The cellar must have been about fifty years old when I was a kid and was dark, damp and filled with creepy crawlies. Shudder. Every time we had to go in the "storm pit", I would duck my head going in so a spider couldn't attack. Most of the time though, we had to use a stick to get rid of the webs stretching across the doorway before we could even get in. That's not good when you have a twister chasing your tail.

It would all start when Mama would wake us up in the middle of the night - why do tornadoes most always come at nighttime? - and tell us to get on our shoes. I hated that. Then, as we lived in a trailer which we all know ain't safe in a windstorm, we had to run across the yard through rain, hail, high winds, thunder and lightning, all the while looking upward for signs of a tornado in the blackness of the night.

Then we'd sit in the storm pit with our candles, flashlights and weather radio for however long it took for the storm to go away.

Granddaddy eventually demolished that one and made a new one up on the hill. I was already out of the house, so I never got a chance to see it until one year I was visiting with my husband and kids.

I peeked in that cellar and what I saw scared the crap out of me! There were insects in there that I didn't know still existed. Thought they were extinct. Things I have no name for. I told my mother that even if a tornado was landing on top of the farm, there was no way in Hades I was going in that cellar with all those bugs.

And I'm not joking y'all! I swear, a few of those bugs had to have been a good 4-5 inches long and they weren't those stick bugs either. They sort of looked like a stick, but they had big, ole black eyes bulging and long antennas twitching...and they were all over the walls and floors of that storm pit. Right along with more innocent creatures like frogs and a couple of not-so-innocent snakes. No way I'm going in that place. Not unless I am about to be sucked up in a twister.

Last I heard was that my aunt had repainted the inside with a better sealer that keeps it drier on the inside so the critters don't congregate as much. We'll see if it's enough to get me in it next Spring when I visit.

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Ain't that one great?

[danandave7]

It happened just as I described, Randy. I swear. I hate storm cellars. They always smell like kerosene and they have bugs.

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by danandave7

It happened just as I described, Randy. I swear. I hate storm cellars. They always smell like kerosene and they have bugs.

LOL I always thought those old-timey "root" type storm cellars smelled of the grave...as the old horror story cliche' goes!

But thanks for letting me post that one, hon. I always enjoyed reading it. And can relate to it too! I noticed you got quite a few rep points for it as well!

[case44]

My storm-cellar stories, unfortunately, didn't take place in Texas. When I went my granny's place as a kid, we would just play in and around it. No storm stories, though. Wish I had one.

[danandave7]

What are rep points?

Dana

[jeffari-al-texani]

My great-grandmother had a storm cellar in her house outside of Abilene.

The only thing I can remember is that it's where she stored all those jars of chow-chow and preserves!