Close call with tornado

MossRoad · May 11, 2004

Over the course of the last 40+ years I've had at least a half dozen tornados come within a quarter mile of me and I've never seen one. (good!).

The last one of note went directly over my in-laws house and passed about 6 blocks from our house... we live 9 miles away from them. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif That one stayed on the ground for over 30 miles. Lots of damage, but no deaths.

Glad you and yours are OK. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Mother nature is an awsome force...

EastTexFrank · May 11, 2004

Well Bird, I'm not quite that bad. I reckon if we're down there it's only going to be for a short time. I'm not preparing for a nuclear Armagedon but if we have to stay overnight I'd like it to be reasonably comfortable, have somewhere to sit, make a cup of coffee, have lights if the power goes off, etc. Oh yes, I think I also have a small bottle of Scotch down there for medicinal purposes.
/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

My wife was a kid in Dallas in '58 and tells me she saw that tornado hit the Johnson's Baby Powder factory and suck up Bachman Lake. That must have been something to see ... from a distance.

tc35dforme · May 11, 2004

I'll take the 2' snowstorms and the ice and the cold....you guys can have Tornado Alley. We get rough storms in the summer, but very rarely does anything develop and when it does, due to the terrain, they don't last and don't develop.

Now the big exception was the Worcester Tornado in '53 .....that one broke the rules for our area.

Stay low and tied down /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Ole_Hickory · May 11, 2004

( due to the terrain, they don't last and don't develop. )

2 has occured and been documented by NOAA within 8 miles of my home in WVa in the last 3 years.

Bird · May 11, 2004

Frank, I spent 3 weeks in Pampa in '94 and saw what appeared from the exterior to be some beautiful homes built into hills; everything but the front underground. We also saw a lot of storm cellars in town right against the houses, or right against attached garages. We visited one couple whose cellar was probably 8' x 12' or so, carpeted, built in carpeted bench down each side that would serve as a pretty good bed, telephone and electric lights, as well as the emergency candles should the power go off. Very nice and probably not very expensive.

DaveNay · May 11, 2004

One time when visiting my grandpa in WVa (Grafton/Bridgeport/Clarksburg area) there was a severe storm. The next day we went up to his crop field at the top of the hill, and we could see the path the twister has taken through the valley. Reportedly, the second floor of a house was removed so cleanly that all they had to du was put up new rafters and had a nice single floor house.

Dave

MossRoad · May 12, 2004

Anyone remember reading my favorite tornado story? /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Bird · May 12, 2004

Yep, David, that was a good one. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

MossRoad · May 12, 2004

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. 

Yep. I'm still finishing off my Y2K stash! /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Just kidding. But we do keep all our camping gear in our basement and we also store several weeks worth of dry food, bottled water and soda pop down there, as that is our pantry overflow area. Also, we store most of our clothes down there as well. It is a nice dry basement. We also have a generator, but that is up in the garage that might get wiped off the face of the earth, so I don't count on it being there. Camping gear has all the essentials... bedding, cooking utensils, waterproof matches, nice axe. There will be plenty of firewood after the big one hits, too, so that won't be a problem. I'd be most worried about one of the kids getting cut on debris and getting an infection or something like that, so a good first aid kit in the camping gear is a must. Also, a bottle of multi-vitamins to supplement the Captain Crunch and beans would be a good idea. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

DaveNay · May 12, 2004

( Yep. I'm still finishing off my Y2K stash! /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif)

This reminds me of a friend of mine. Sometime in the summer of 1999, his neighbor was unloading the minivan full of soup, water, toilet paper, etc. My buddy asked him what all that stuff was for, and his neighbor replied "It's for Y2K man! Aren't you stocking up?" My buddies reply to his neighbor was "Nahhhh.....I have a gun, and I know where you live." His neighbor turned white as a ghost, and didn't really talk to him for almost six months (until after Y2K passed without so much as a burned out lighbulb /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif)

Dave