Close call with tornado

[DUMBDOG]

Couple years ago on the 1st of Nov, a tornado hit our street doing minor damage, including a broken window and other minor damage to our house, by the time I had figured out what was happening and said lets get to the basement, it was over, took the garage from the house behind us, never did find all of the pieces. The next day it snowed. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[DaveNay]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( What's the outcome? )</font>

Nothing. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif No damage and no injuries reported.

Just a bunch of skid marks /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

Dave

 

[Wannafish]

Been there, done that. No thank you again. July of '99 a tornado came thru our yard. No basement to hide in. The windows were closed because it was raining so hard...the front and back doors (one opened in and one opened out) were sucked open. All the pictures and knick knacks were sucked off the walls and out the back door (Found one of the pictures over 1/2 mile away while deer hunting). Looked out the door and a pickup topper that had just been taken off my truck was about 100 feet in the air going round and round...and I thought "gee, just like on TV!". /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

We were very lucky in that we had only minimal damage to the house...roof, windows, and doors. Lots of maple trees around our house 2 feet in diameter were twisted right in two - best description I can think of is when you wring out a towel!

Picture was taken by Tower Cam at TV station 3 miles away. Also can view a video at:
http://www.9and10news.com/weather/Weather_Library/tustin_twister/default.asp#Quicktime%20Tornado%20Movie

 

[Golfgar4]

Glad to hear everything's O.K. Dave! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

When I was a kid (late 50's), we lived in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin for a summer while my Dad's company built highway 50. We had a little rental house about 3 blocks from the lake.

One day it was real stormy, and my mother decided we weren't going to go to the beach. We'd been going every day, and quite frankly, we kids were getting tired of doing it every day, so we didn't mind. Anyway, it really started blowing and raining hard, and it got that real creepy kind of green color. We never heard any warnings of any kind, but when things let up, we went outside to see what was going on. The two houses across the street weren't there any more! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

We later found out that a tornado had touched down right across the street and had moved across about two blocks before it went back up. And we never heard the "freight train" sound. All we heard was a lot of strong wind!

That's as close as I ever want to be! I guess I'm just glad that we never realized what was going on at the time. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[BillyP]

We had an F3 tornado come through last year. It came within about 2 miles from my house. All we got, here at the house, was baseball size hail.

There was a house down the road that got almost a direct hit. The only thing left standing was 2 outside walls in the kitchen. The weird thing is, there were still bowls, plates and such still sitting on the kitchen bar.

 

[MarkV]

Dave,

Talked to my folks last night, also in DeKalb Co., and they said it got a bit scary for awhile. I was asking them if they went to the basement and they didn't. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif They are kind of up there in age and as I was lecturing them about not going to the basement the role reversal struck me. Guess I understand better why they thought I was a bit of a pain back when they did the lecturing. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Glad all is well at the farm and agree that is to close for comfort. Nature is one powerful beast at times.

MarkV

 

[DaveNay]

Mark,

Next time you are in town, you should install a telephone in their basement if they don't have one. I can imagine a situation with elderly persons being able to get to the basement (due to adrenaline, etc) but then not being able to climb out again after the danger has passed. We went through this with my grandma, where she insisted on using all levels of her house, but did not have a phone available for emergency use (old house only phone was in the kitchen).

Dave

 

[EastTexFrank]

Golfgar4,

The same thing happened to us 2 years ago. It was a stormy night but no warnings. It was about midnight and my wife and I were still up because one of the dogs was really sick, when we heard a really high, sustained, howling wind that lasted for maybe 20/30 seconds and then it was back to the normal high gusting type wind again. We didn't realize what had happened until it had passed. Next day we found out it was on the ground about 4 miles to the S.W. of us, picked up and touched down again about 2 miles to the N.E. The funnel cloud must have passed almost directly over the house. Well, that's my story but it was WAAAYYYY!!!! to close for comfort. It tore up some trees to the S.W and more trees and a barn to the N.E. There was no damage at or around the house except for some dead limbs coming down. The bad thing is that we have a storm shelter under the house with emegency supplies but it doesn't do you any good if you don't know it's coming and don't go down there. We were lucky.

 

[EastTexFrank]

That's a good point Mark. Even in a storm shelter under the house it would be so easy to have the door blocked by falling debris - trees, deck, walls, etc. I'll have to add a cell phone to my list of things to grab and run in an emergency. Thanks.

Is there anyone else as paranoid me who actually tries to plan for such emergencies by having camping gear, lights, weather radio and things stored in the basement that we use as a storm shelter. My wife thinks I'm a little strange but she does find it comforting to know we have the bare essentials if we have to spend the night down there.

 

[Bird]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Is there anyone else as paranoid me who actually tries to plan for such emergencies by having camping gear, lights, weather radio and things stored in the basement )</font>

Frank, that reminds me of a fellow I worked with in the early '60s. You know Dallas had a pretty big tornado that hit in 1958 and this fellow was one of those who lost his house. He said he, his wife, his dog, and two little boys were under the bed, with him and the dog trying to dig a foxhole in the floor with their fingernails and claws. It literally blew the house away without moving that bed. So when they got their new house, they had one of the "bomb shelters" that were popular back then put in the backyard. He had it well stocked with blankets, food, etc., then did not have occasion to check on it for several months. When he did finally open it one day, he found that his two little boys had run a garden hose into it and filled it with water, apparently quite some time earlier. He said the stench of all his rotted supplies nearly knocked him down. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif He had to rent a pump to pump it out and said it was a terribly sickening job to clean it out and nothing in there was worth salvaging.