Tornado Sirens

The thing about the South is they have tornadoes. They also have tornado sirens. But, what they don't have is someone to explain them to you when you move to the South. Last night, about 12:30, the tornado sirens went off. They weren't really loud, so I was wondering if they were meant for us. I was surprised I even heard them. I wasn't sure what we were to do. Is this a big deal? Does this mean to head for the basement, or does it just mean stay alert in case you need to head to the basement? I finally googled tornado sirens. I decided that I was so nervous I would probably sleep better in the basement anyway. So, Mike ran down stairs and got three air mattresses ready. I started with Maysen and one by one brought all the kids downstairs. I started to get nervous as I was getting Preston. It was raining sideways by then. I kept thinking, "Oh no! My baby's still upstairs!" We all got snuggled pretty well in the basement, but I woke up so tired! And my back is killing me. No damage done, but better safe than sorry.

The reason I'm so confused about the tornado sirens is once I took Maysen to a movie in Douglasville. We watched Horton Hears a Who. When we came out, we found out they had shut down the entire mall. Everyone was evacuated to the bottom floor. Tornado sirens were going off. It was hailing pretty bad that most of our neighborhood ended up getting their roofs replaced. Anyway, they evacuated everyone on the top floor except the movie theater! I am sorry, but if a tornado is coming, I could be persuaded to leave a movie! So, if tornado sirens aren't a big enough deal to interrupt a movie, exactly when are they a big deal?