Northeast Region
From a Second Grade Class, in Cape Girardeau, Missouri:
We have tornadoes here a lot, we also are always practicing tornado drills at school. We also have some blizzards, but not this year we've hardly had any snow at all. We have earthquakes, which we also practice for, so we won't be hurt when one happens. If it is a rainy spring, we can have floods. We didn't have one last year, but two years ago we had a very bad flood that took a long time to get it back to normal.
They also said,
Cape Girardeau is on the Mississippi River. Our school is very close to the river, in fact, from some of the classrooms you can actually see it from out the window. The only effect that the river has on our weather is that it causes it to be foggy down by the river. Mrs. Hicks has told us that many times it is not foggy when she leaves her house, but by the time she gets to school it is very foggy.
From another school in Wisconsin:
Our weather station name is LVM Weather Central. We have installed a Weather Wizard on the roof of the school and maintain a daily weather report. The Weather Wizard records wind speed and direction and temperatures inside and outside in Fahrenheit and Celsius.
Earlier this year we got to visit a local TV weather station. It is quite a set up! It sells its weather report to TV stations and newspapers around the country.
Someone else from Connecticut told us,
When I was three, there was a tornado in Connecticut. There were heavy winds and heavy rains. It knocked down trees, power lines, and tops of houses. In the neighborhood I lived in it ruined houses but it skipped over my house, luckily! My dad was at work when it occurred. He couldn't drive home for three hours. I think it was the biggest tornado recorded in Connecticut.
In the year 1995 and 1996, we had a big snowstorm in Connecticut. We had about three feet. I remember trying to play in it. It was hard to walk in it. The snow was up to my waist. I had to shovel, but it was too hard so I stopped and let my parents do it. My friends and I tried to sled, but it was too hard to walk back up the hill. One time the flat driveway was covered with ice and we put on ice skates and skated on the driveway. We were out of school for seven days.
Here is an original story from a second grader in New York,
One time I was sleeping in my Mom's room. I couldn't see my Mom. The road was flooded. There was lightning. So we went downstairs and watched the news. I was scared. It wasn't very smart to watch television when it was raining. I saw a fire truck by my friend's house. The fire fighters were trying to get the water out of the street. My sister didn't wake up. My Mom and Dad said not to be scared. We turned off the electricity. It wasn't a very good night. I sat down on the couch and listened. The news said that the rain was bad and cold. When I heard that I trembled. The rain lasted for days. When my friend came over, he got soaked. His dad couldn't get his car out of his driveway. He was scared, too.
Here is a traumatic story from 1st graders who live near the Ohio river,
These students live in homes on top of a ten to twenty foot bank above the Ohio River. They had a lot of rain and the river was rising at one foot an hour. In twenty four hours the town was flooded. Only the tops of many houses were showing out of the water. The school was not flooded BUT the water was turned off because of contamination.
At 2 PM the teachers were told to get all their supplies and books to teach with and move in a hour. The children were worried about their homes, toys, and families. The "new school" was 15 ' X 15 ' and there were twenty eight 1st graders. "We were packed like sardines," said one teacher. Even though the children were moved all over the county, the attendance was great. They were there for four loooooong weeks. The water did not go down as fast it came up.
The town looked like a war zone, with dumpsters and parts of houses everywhere. The small town is back to normal but the houses that used to sit on the ground were rebuilt on ten foot foundations, according to government requirements. This "high building" is OK for most people, but very difficult for the elderly in the community.
There were no lives lost in the flood, however, several people died as a result of the stress from moving, etc. Our custodian. who worked at the school for twenty five years, was one of the fatalities. He died of a heart attack. The kids adored him and miss him. A teacher told us that she notices when it rains kids get worried and ask if they are going to have another flood. They will always remember this terrible trauma.
Here is a story from a friend in the Massachusetts,
One winter there were 17 snowstorms and blizzards. We had no electricity for days. They were the storms of the century!
From Indiana,
Flooding of small streams and wetlands sometimes closes country roads. Snowstorms and ice are troublesome. Tornadoes occur during April and summer months. Thick fog occurs several times a year.
The Blizzard of January, 1999
From Krista S. in Indiana
The first weekend of January 1999 my mom and I saw that a blizzard was coming this way. When it was time to go to bed I was a little bit scared. By the time I fell asleep it was already snowing. In the morning I looked out and saw the snow.
It wasn't that bad, but after some other nights of snow it began to get worse. That day I asked my mom if I could go outside. She said, "Yes, but only if you bundle up really good." When I got outside I started to build a snowman. But then I went back inside and told my mom that the snow was too deep. So she went outside and shoveled some of the snow. Then I started finishing my snowman, but the wind was whipping against my fact so I went inside.After awhile I asked my mom if she could take me sledding. She said, "Only for a little bit." I already had my snow pants, snow boots, and mittens on, so I was ready to go. I had my mom carry my snowboard and I carried my sled. It was very cold outside! As I walked up the hill, I could hear the snow crunching. The wetness went right through my snow boots. When I went down the hill, the wind felt like spikes on my face. When I got to the bottom, I fell. I could feel the snow on my hands, then I ate a little of it. After a couple more times down the hill, my mom took me home. Then I built a snow fort. It was 8:00 p.m. It was time for me to go in. That was the best blizzard ever!
From Natalie V
When our winter vacation started the third week of December, 1998, it was calm. When it ended in January, 1999, it was very cold outside. Everything was white. We had a big blizzard. It was one of the worst blizzards in many years. Outside it was so cold, I had to layer in clothes. I had to wear everything I had to go outside and play. I could only play outside for a little while so I wouldn't get frostbite. I built snow forts and a tall snowman. Whenever I went outside, the wind blew very hard. When I got back inside, I drank lots of hot chocolate. I had a lot of fun!
From Melissa B
We had a blizzard in northwest Indiana at the end of our Christmas vacation. It was cold, wet, and very white out. It was also very windy. I went sledding with my friends. It was fun! My sled is red and black. It's like a go-cart. I couldn't believe how much it was snowing. It was snowing very hard for two days! Then it snowed lightly off and on for the next few days. When the people were done plowing, we had mounds taller than me, and I'm five feet tall!! On Monday January 4th we were supposed to go back to school but I didn't because my mom said it was too dangerous. I went back on Tuesday.
From Tony Carter
This year we had a bad blizzard at the beginning of January. I noticed it was snowing first thing in the morning, and I knew we were going to have a lot of snow. It was hard to see the trees. The ground was white and deep. The wind was blowing hard and ice was inside and outside of my window. I thought the power was going to go out. Luckily it didn't. There was a huge snow drift on my neighbor's house. People were getting stuck in their car on the hill, On the news the next few days they were saying to stay off the roads because they were dangerous and icy. They closed down the dangerous roads. A lot of schools got canceled, but our school was still open. I did not go to school Monday January 4th becuase it still said stay off the roads. The next day I went back to school and everything was back to normal.
