Weather Storms.

[Blue Mule]

Your comments are timely and IMO correct. I am in KY and I pay attention to the weather. There's no farmer who does not. People's lives and our livestock, structures, equipment, and our crops are in peril in these events. And there seem to be more now than in my long ago youth.

As PonyTug noted earlier, maybe we need...a plan. In rural KY, a house trailer may be all folks can afford. And it's death on wheels in a tornado. As are many older houses out there in the country. But few strucures can take a direct hit from a tornado. No, we can't protect everyone with a personal shelter, but perhaps some centralized system of defining existing buildings to go to or community shelters to be built. But the point is it can't just be an ad hoc thing - it would have to be a true "system" with a defined structure. And more education of the public in general about buying in to such a plan.

As I write this, I am watching the Governor, Laurel County Sheriff, and local officials explaining a mandatory evacuation of people from debris fields using school buses or cruisers ahead of today's storms coming again to KY. They are trying to keep people safe and opening up places to put them. Government and municipal resources from across KY have been deployed to the London area to help, and many private folks are coming as well. I am always proud of my state during these times...

Now, a last thought. Is there waste in "government?" Yes, in some places, primarily due to Congress, as opposed to the executive branch, be it Democrat or Republican. And Congress is...us. But for Heaven's sake, stop cutting essential government services based on a bunch of young people running algorithms on a laptop without any real understanding of mission areas.
Attacking the scientific bodies within the government such as the National Weather Service is just...nuts. That forecaster on TV is relying on NOAA's satellites, supercomputers, and NWS weather balloons and the analysts from the NWS to provide accurate information. Because of cuts, the Jackson County, KY forecast staff can't even provide 24/7 coverage anymore. But they did, by coming in to work at night to keep people safe as I understand it. Yeah, you're damn right I'll pay their salary as a taxpayer.

Go after the waste, the political fat, DEI, whatever, but leave the essential services out of it. And have the brains to know which is which.

They say the NWS costs each taxpayer $3 per year. I'd gladly double that and pay $6 per year if they would fully staff WFOs and update the aging radar network which saw its last big upgrade in 1988.

 

[QRTRHRS]

While I appreciate the NWS on my weather radio, there could be better options. In the last couple of years, new fiber optic line was run less than one mile from me. I may as well be on the moon waiting for connections in my neighborhood. Living in another area with fiber, I think in ten years, I only lost the internet twice. I use Dish and Hughesnet so I may as well rely on a "weather rock" when it storms.

I did have a programmable weather radio that was I could set to just my county and a couple of adjacent counties but that one died so I have been relying on my one size fits all broadcast all until I replace it.

 

[JeepHead]

While I appreciate the NWS on my weather radio, there could be better options. In the last couple of years, new fiber optic line was run less than one mile from me. I may as well be on the moon waiting for connections in my neighborhood. Living in another area with fiber, I think in ten years, I only lost the internet twice. I use Dish and Hughesnet so I may as well rely on a "weather rock" when it storms.

I did have a programmable weather radio that was I could set to just my county and a couple of adjacent counties but that one died so I have been relying on my one size fits all broadcast all until I replace it.

Fiber has been siting in my front yard for weeks now. I know the x-box is wired up down the road, everything is there and ready to go, so I have no idea what the hold-up is. But AT&T still doesn't recognize that it's there ready to be installed.

 

[MMC]

Fiber has been siting in my front yard for weeks now. I know the x-box is wired up down the road, everything is there and ready to go, so I have no idea what the hold-up is. But AT&T still doesn't recognize that it's there ready to be installed.

If any of your funding for that line came from the Rural Internet government funding...try to get it while you can. Trump's quote on this:“a racist and illegal $2.5 billion giveaway.” Translate that for rural folks...like me...who pay far more than others for any kind of service.

 

[QRTRHRS]

The NWS has confirmed that the Somerset/Laurel county tornado was an EF4.

 

[Blue Mule]

The NWS has confirmed that the Somerset/Laurel county tornado was an EF4.

EF-2. The part of the path confirmed to be EF-4 is over in the London area.

Interestingly, that's the only EF-4 ever recorded in the Jackson, KY NWS forecast area. They did have one rated F-4 on the old scale back in 1974. Also, deadliest twister ever in their forecast area.

 

[Oaktree]

If any of your funding for that line came from the Rural Internet government funding...try to get it while you can. Trump's quote on this:“a racist and illegal $2.5 billion giveaway.” Translate that for rural folks...like me...who pay far more than others for any kind of service.

We just got fiber here late last year, what a difference from what we had before!! I'm sure the funding for it came from that program, we're not as far out as some of you but still thinly populated enough that it likely would never have been profitable for anyone to do it without taxpayer $.

 

[JeepHead]

If any of your funding for that line came from the Rural Internet government funding...try to get it while you can. Trump's quote on this:“a racist and illegal $2.5 billion giveaway.” Translate that for rural folks...like me...who pay far more than others for any kind of service.

Mine definitely came from that program. I am a former AT&T lineman and talked to one of my former lineman I worked with. He said my service will be turned on June 1st as they're making final splices now.

 

[jmc]

Indiana has many trailer parks, probably because much of the trailer industry is concentrated here so zoning is favorable. But yeah, some "The Simpson's" gallows humor about the risks.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

Looks like we are headed to Linton, IN with the chainsaw trailer next week. Bloomington as well

 

[jmc]

Looks like we are headed to Linton, IN with the chainsaw trailer next week. Bloomington as well

Will you be part of an organized effort? I haven't seen any Bloomington outreach for volunteers yet.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

Will you be part of an organized effort? I haven't seen any Bloomington outreach for volunteers yet.

Indiana Southern Baptist Disaster Relief. Yeap

 

[JeepHead]

Will you be part of an organized effort? I haven't seen any Bloomington outreach for volunteers yet.

I haven't either and driving through Bloomington every day, I haven't seen very many trees down from the storm. The storm we had last year with the straight line winds were much worse, trees down all over the city!.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

I haven't either and driving through Bloomington every day, I haven't seen very many trees down from the storm. The storm we had last year with the straight line winds were much worse, trees down all over the city!.

We were there too. Often we are reaching individual homeowners with needs. Last winter we worked with a utility in Evansville after the ice storm... But often individuals need help, even if there isn't broad damage like Sullivan, IN 2023. They are mostly neglected if infrastructure is basically ok. Nobody cares unless it affects them. They just get overlooked.
We have assessors in Bloomington and Linton now getting work orders. Then we will show up and clear trees and debris for free, and be on our way.

 

[Eagle1]

We were there too. Often we are reaching individual homeowners with needs. Last winter we worked with a utility in Evansville after the ice storm... But often individuals need help, even if there isn't broad damage like Sullivan, IN 2023. They are mostly neglected if infrastructure is basically ok. Nobody cares unless it affects them. They just get overlooked.


View attachment 3510940

That looks like our road last ice storm near the creek crossing. No help coming, just get the tractors/saws out and shove stuff of the road.
Just pushed an 20"+ white oak out the road this week. Faster to roll coal and break it around another tree than getting a saw. I'll cut it for firewood this fall.

 

[ponytug]

Looks like we are headed to Linton, IN with the chainsaw trailer next week. Bloomington as well

"Chainsaw trailer"? Any photos?

Great of you and your church to help out. Good luck on the trips.

All the best, Peter

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

"Chainsaw trailer"? Any photos?

Great of you and your church to help out. Good luck on the trips.

All the best, Peter

Let me see...
We have 6 saws, chaps, helmets, fuel, oil, bars, chains etc...

 

[ruffdog]

About 900 tornadoes so far this year, and that is about 300 above normal. Lots of people need help.

 

[jmc]

Will you be part of an organized effort? I haven't seen any Bloomington outreach for volunteers yet.

Update on Bloomington, Indiana volunteer outreach (but probably only of interest to local TBN members):

Tornado Storm Debris Cleanup Crews Needed! | City of Bloomington Volunteer Network

www.bloomingtonvolunteernetwork.org

 

[dmccarty]

I watch Ryan Hall Ya'll on YouTube to get weather, as well as looking at Windy and Weatherbug. Ryan Hall has a video a few times a week looking at the current weather and forecasts for a week or so in the future with some long term forecasts regarding temperature and rain. If there is a tornado outbreak, or other bad weather, he goes live to track what is happening. I knew quite a bit about the weather but it really has helped to watch his videos to learn more. We are having an upper level wind pattern for months that has created these storms in the midwest but also have created a drought in South Florida.

We moved to L'ville when I was a kid, and a year or so before we moved, a tornado hit our neighborhood. The tree damage was still visible when we moved in and I can remember many tornado outbreaks when we lived there. I was shocked to see the death toll of this last storm. Ryan Hall had discussed the possibilities of tornado outbreaks and their location but the number of casualties is horrendous. Not much one can do to predict the casualties. Just saw random.....

Years ago, a coworker had an aunt killed by a tornado. We had a tornado outbreak that hit in our area and moved east. The aunt and a neighbor were killed when a tornado hit their cluster of homes in the middle of now where. There were three homes within 300-500 years of each other. Two of the homes were reduced to a rubble pile and one "just" destroyed but still standing. Each of the two homes turned to rubble had a fatality. If that tornado had gone a 100-200 yards east or west, nobody would have died, and it is likely the homes would have had little to no damage. There were very few homes along the road, the tornado hit where the homes were.