'Get home to your kids': BWW manager sends employee straight home during storm

HOWELL — When a devastating series of storms rolled through mid-Michigan on Thursday, Aug. 24, Ella Johncox was working her shift as a waitress at Buffalo Wild Wings.

Her daughters, 8 and 10, were at home with a babysitter.

“It was kind of late so we were still pretty busy," Johncox said. "(It was) starting to wind down for the night. I still had one table open and that's when we heard the sirens go off and the TV's did that weird thing when they alert you and then everyone's phones started buzzing.

"It didn't quite hit me that I needed to get home until my babysitter texted me and (said), ‘Hey, I need to get home to my family.'"

Johncox's manager offered to close out her table and finish her shift responsibilities so she could get home to her girls.

"(My manager) was looking at the weather, and she goes, ‘You need to leave here right now, get home to your kids. Leave right now.'"

Johncox raced home to her second floor apartment, 10 minutes from the restaurant, where she and her daughters took shelter from the storm in their windowless bathroom.

Using their outside cameras, Johncox kept an eye on conditions. After about 20 minutes, she decided they should move to the only downstairs area in their apartment — a small closet near the entrance.

As storms in Michigan continue to get more severe and more frequent, people living in apartments and homes without basements are often faced with the question of how to protect themselves in severe weather.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Storm Prediction Center, people in apartments or without basements should shelter away from windows on the lowest floor they can get to. Bathrooms, closets, space under the stairs, or in hallways are the best options.

Johncox and her family were unharmed, but she finds herself grateful for her managers.

“There was four managers on that night," Johncox said. "And they were all just super OK with accommodating me. (They) just picked up the slack, which is amazing. They didn't make me feel bad about anything. It literally was not mentioned again."

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As a single mom that works two jobs, Johncox has made it a priority to teach her daughters what to do in case of emergency. A wall in their apartment has instructions on what to do in case of fire, storm or other emergency, as well as supplies like a fire extinguisher and a rope ladder for climbing out of windows. The same wall has a list of phone numbers her daughters can call if they can’t get in touch with her.

"I wanted to prepare them if an emergency ever happened ... what to do.”

— Contact reporter Tess Ware [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @tess_journalist.