By Michael Rutschky
Published on October 10, 2007
I’m now running on pure adrenaline. About an hour ago I got to the mall to buy the snazzy fedora at Dillard’s that I’ve had my eye on for a while. As I was walking through the store showing off my new hat I received an e-mail edition of the Corsair on my phone. Eager to get the full story on why an e-mail edition was sent out without a corresponding issue, I called Josh Encinias. As I was leaving Dillards and entering the mall proper, Josh told me about a tornado in the area. I started seeing the mall’s power go out and decided to call my girlfriend to make sure she would be safe, since she works outdoors as a car hop at Sonic.
Just then I started to see a heavy wind blowing <i>inside</i> the mall. I had no idea what was happening, but people were crying and running in the opposite direction of where I was walking to. I followed the flood of people back towards Dillard’s where a security officer that just looked outside started running through the mall, telling everyone to take cover, that there was a tornado on the ground outside.
I attempted to find shelter in the arcade across from Dillard’s, and called my girlfriend to urge that she and all of the workers and patrons of Sonic take cover in the store’s freezers, which are secured to the foundation of the building. I then left the arcade and ran by the cell phone skin shop across from the food court, and they invited me into their back room for safe haven. Me and a few other people hung out back there until it cleared up. I must have looked quite foolish freaking out about a tornado in front of all these native Pensacolians (Connecticut, where I’m from, doesn’t get them). I stayed in the store for a while, confirming that everything was sound with all of my loved ones around town.
Now I’m sitting on a bench inside the mall, typing this out on my sidekick. I started to take pictures of the few skylights that were punched out, but the Simon workers made me stop. Everything seems to be back to normal, and I’m watching an old man getting a skin exfoliation demonstration. I’m kind of paralyzed at the moment, but it’ll pass.