Oh! my goodness I'm so glad you and your family are safe. I grew up in Oklahoma, so know how long those nights can be. we had beds in our shelter so the kids just crawled in and spent the night.
I still watch the storm clouds and have been gone from back there for 50 years. Move your sewing room to the basement then you won't have to carry so much down there.
God bless everyone that has to fear this distructive force of nature.

Always better safe than sorry. Myself I'd have to grab my 3 smalls dogs, laptop and meds first. I have waaaaaay to much fabric to try to grab anything, but where it is it's safe enough. Mother and I lived through 2 tornados and she's lived through getting struck by lightening. So we've learned to have an emergency basket nearby, set it near our hiding spot and grab the babies (dogs) and anything else if time. I lived up north in IL near Belvidere in 69 when Miss Belvidere was crowned Miss America. It was that year the tornado hit. Many school children were killed, I can still see the bar stools from a small dinner sticking up out of the cement flooring and all else was leveled. I've never seen such devistation in all my life. Prayers for all envolved this season.

So glad your all ok!

I'm so glad you and your family are all right, Katie. That is the important thing. I understand why you took your machine and fabric downstairs. I would have done the same thing if I had enough warning. The first things I would take to shelter would be my kitties. If I had enough time, my new Ellisimo sewing/embroidery machine would be next, then the diamond pendant that DH got me for our 45th anniversary last year. But, if time was short, I would just save my DH, (He would probably be asleep in his recliner so I would have to wake him.) my kitties and myself. Everything else is replaceable. My prayers are with all those who were not so lucky as your family.

Last summer when we were evacuated for the wildfires, I took my featherweight and a portion of my fabric as well as my laptop and a couple of books to read. Wished I had taken more, as we were kept away for a week, but thankfully all was well. So no, you're not alone!

Sometimes we just have to do what "comes" to us at the moment - and that's exactly what you did!

So glad you and your family are ok. My heart is so heavy for the ones that didn't make it through that awful storms. I live in Arkansas so I know about those storms coming through and tearing things up. I am just thankful that so many did have time to prepare before they did hit and get in shelter. As far as you being crazy the answer is no I myself have grab a many of weird things as I have been told when the tonadoes have been heading towards our home. You take care and reorganize and make those kids of yours some neat quilts they can bundle up in.

Not any crazier than me & my daughter, we put our Featherweights in a great big ole gun cabinet before going to the storm cellar.

Not crazy at all. Barbara Brackman, in one of her books, recounts a pioneer family who hid their precious sewing machine away from the house each night so it might be spared if hostile tribesmen burned their cabin. You acted in the best American pioneer tradition.

We do get a tornado up here in the mountains, now and then but if I lived in Tornado Alley like you folks, I'd have to have an underground home for fear of being blown away.

Nope, if I had the time with something like that, I would do the same thing. Why not prepare if you have the warning.