Tornadoes

I was so sorry to hear of 4 deaths resulting from about 7 tornadoes in the southeast, mainly Mississippi and Alabama. I think there was substantial damage and flooding. To those members who live in these areas my thoughts and prayers are with you and I hope you are all OK.

Hi Louisa, that same system came through here today. There were 2 toRnadoes north of us(about 70 miles). Caused lots of damage, but no deaths. We are having a bumpy spring this year. I am so sorry for the folks in Mississippi and Alabama. Lisa

Lisa - Surely it's too early for that kind of weather. I think the whole world's gone mad.

I think the Lord is trying to tell us something :-) Lisa

It's going to be HOT today, so maybe we will also get some stormy weather!!

Warm here too! I'll send you some rain. They are calling for more severe weather on Thursday! YUCKIE! Lisa

Welllll Lisa - you know you could do with some of that wet stuff!! :-)

YEP!

No postings here from the folks down in the South, so I just hope they are OK.

Those things are rare here in the uk, we have had small ones, but nothing like you get over there, ours would be like a f**t in a tunnel by comparisson, but i have fascination for those awesome killers, one of mother natures powers, i have always had a likeing for things like that, and some of the electrical storms you get are awesome too, but being in one is something else, i dont know if i could get that close, seeing them on the tv is not the same as being there.

Alan.
No offence intened to anyone who was a victim of, or has had family in one of those things.

Alan, have you seen the movie "Twister"? I thought it was sheer lunacy for us to watch this video, sitting in our den in Oklahoma, with surround sound making it seem so real......you're right about it being an awesome force of nature to behold. We were lucky - in all the years we lived there, the closest tornado touched down about half a mile from us - we were never hit.

But we drove through Enid and Oklahoma City after the devastating F5 tornado hit there a few years ago. It's very sobering to drive through the aftermath, even after most of the debris has been removed - the twisted highway signs, rows of huge trees torn apart/sheared off a few feet from the ground. It makes you thankful for what you have, and appreciate our place in this big 'ole universe.

My oldest son wanted to be a meteorologist/storm chaser from Kindergarten to about fifth grade. He was absolutely fascinated with all types of storms, and it was interesting to help him learn more about science and weather phenomenon, but quite frankly, I was relieved when his career interests moved on to other things!

go_vols, my 9 year old wants to be a storm chaser! He's fascinated with tornados and reads everything he can find on them and he loves the movies, too. I sure hope he changes his mind about this career choice. If he doesn't, I'll be a nervous wreck!!! You know how us moms worry.

Terri

LOL! Ya'll sit through one in my house and maybe ya'll change your mind real quick! LOL! We have real bad electrical storms here. High winds come through here really bad. We live in open cane field area and there aren't any wind breaks. Yikes! The house walls can be felt 'bowing'. I don't like it one bit. And Hurricanes...well, that is a whole 'nother nemeses. Every year it hangs over our head because we are overdue for "the big one". I am a chicken! Lisa

Go-vols, yes i have seen the movie, several times, its great, but i can see the humour in you watching it while one is ripping up your naighbors garden, cant quite get my head round that, but it must happen like that sometimes.

Pete2, i can see the appeal of being a storm chaser, but not for long, a few days here and there in the peak storm season, that would do nicely, just for the experience value.

justmelisa, wind is the element i dont like to much, we are the same here, its very flat, so nothing to stop a good wind, it comes straight across the fens, and like today it freezing in it, so i can understand that one.

Alan.

Well, Pete2, maybe he'll outgrow it!!!! We still have all the "stuff" my son collected - books, videos, even a "tornado in a bottle" he built in grade school. In fact, when he was going through this storm-chasing phase, we took him to the book signing of an Oklahoma University professor who had published a book on tornadoes. The esteemed professor had this expensive tornado simulator on the desk next to him, and when he learned my son wanted to study meteorology, offered to demonstrate how it worked. To which my son replied (loudly), that's okay - I built one of those in first grade! Needless to say, we got our autograph, and got out of there in a hurry!!!!

If your son hasn't built or seen one of these, he needs to - they are pretty cool, if low-tech! Just take a one-litre clear plastic bottle, put a few "houses" from an old Monopoly game inside, and anything else you want to see swirling around - little cows, whatever - fill with water and a drop or two of dishsoap. Screw the cap on tightly, and turn the bottle on its side and shake in a circular motion. Turn it upright and watch the action.

Justmelisa - I feel for you - I cannot imagine what living through a hurricane must be like, but I've experienced enough straight winds and lightning storms to know what you mean - it's pretty scary! That's why I thought we were tempting fate to sit in our house and watch Twister - we were almost begging for a tornado!!!!

go_vols, I wish I could have seen that professor's face!!! ROFL

Lisa, I know what you mean about hurricanes. We're overdue for one, too. When there's even a threat of one coming close to us, we have to evacuate because we're on an island. I live right on a river (fooding from spring tides is terrible!) and I'm 30 minutes by boat to the Atlantic Ocean. Our last evacuation was Sept 1999. What a nightmare!!! I drove 200+ miles inland with 1 DH, 4 small boys, 1 very large dog, 1 cat, 1 guinea pig, and my mother-in-law. LOL

Terri

Terri, I know the storm you speak of. We thought it was going to get us this time in the Tidewater area and yes, we did go inland with our menagerie also. We did feel the brunt of it and two of my neighbours had really bad luck with falling trees. One tree cut the house completely in half. I'm glad I have moved away from there now - I hated living under 'the threat' all the time. I know, I'm a wimp and a coward but if anything happened to my cats I couldn't bear it!

That's terrible, Louisa! :(

I almost hate to see summer come because of hurricanes. In the summer, I keep us a bag packed so we can get out of town in a hurry. Luckily, we know the back roads so we don't get in a traffic jam on the interstate. I keep all the baby pictures of the children packed up all year round just because of hurricane season. I learned my lesson about that one year when I was rushing around trying to pack them all. I couldn't bear it if something happened to all those pictures of my babies!!!

Terri

The wind got up last night here in West Ky and had some pea sized hail in it.
Luckilly it was all over in about 10 minutes.

We get micro-bursts here.That's a tornado that hasn't turned upright in the traditional way.One came through the year we moved into our brand new house.(my first house that no one else had lived in)It did about 12,000.00 damage and the power was off 19 hours.We had baseball sized holes in the vinyl siding and all of our gutters were bent and beaten by the hail.Had to have a new roof put on too.

I feel for the folks that had the weather last night,it's no fun when it turns mean.And I really enjoy a good well behaved thunderstorm.I'll curl up with a quilt in my front porch swing(day or night) and sip a cup of tea while it rumbles and grumbles around me.

Some how the misserable British weather doesnt seem quite so bad anymore, i think i will stay here.

Alan.

Pete2: My hurricane story...Hurricane Andrew...the biggie. It hit about 30 miles from us.They thought we were going to take a direct hit. We left at the last minute. 2 trucks of everything we could haul: 14 cats in cages. 4 dogs tied to each wheel of a riding lawn mower in the bed of a truck. A horse trailer with 2 horses and one pot bellied pig. I felt like Ellie Mae Clampett. We came home to lots of damage and no electricity for days. In August, in 100* temps with 200% humidity. You know, maybe Alan is right! Lisa

And yet you go on. Just pick yourself up and dust yourself down, ready for another day. I don't know how you do it! Do you ever think about moving? I know there are many folk who move away from Tornado Alley!

Really, we are not in tornado alley. (hard to believe, right)Our weather never used to be this rough. We have had less tornadoes than most of the other southern states that have them. But yes, I would like to move. But not because of the weather. I can't though, as long as mom is alive I have to be here to help her out. The only bad thing about moving is I would miss our wonderful food and fresh seafood here. If we moved it would be to another coastal state...with the same weather patterns! So I am stuck here for probally forever :-) Lisa

Lisa I think you are quite special :-)

***thank you, that is a very nice thing for you to say***and I think you are a very nice person :-) Lisa

Home is where the heart is, and theres no place like home, hot, cold, wet, windy, its still home.

Alan.

Trish and I lived in tornado alley for a couple years (Dallas, TX - 1998 + 1999). I dreaded every May-June. The tornado warning sirens would go off at all hours of the day and night, almost daily. Worse yet, there are no basements in Texas, so you're stuck in your rancher house while the tornado ravages your town. :(

Weather was the top 3 reasons we left Dallas.

Lisa and all the other Gulf states - please be extra careful tonight. The weathermen are calling for a rough ride.

Yes! 'Gulp' this morning the local weatherman was saying what to do in the *event* of something happening...I always hate when they do that!! That usually means he knows something more than I care to hear! LOL! Lisa

Oh Lisa, I wish I could make it all go away for you or spirit you, your family and animals all up here. From what I heard, your area will get some stormy weather and as the night progresses the storm moves easterly and that is when it's supposed to get pretty bad with the threat of tornadoes. I hope they have it wrong! In any case, I suppose you are already prepared for emergencies since you have done it before. Keep us posted! Is there anyone near you who could help you with the animals etc if you get into difficulty? Don't worry love, someone is watching over you!

My goofy brother used to live near Decatur, Illinois, and every now and again in the spring and fall they would get rough weather and tornadoes out there. He used to get a kick out of calling my mother in PA during a storm and yelling into the phone "We're having a tomato!"

:-) Guess you'd have to know my brother.

Louisa, You are so kind. But we will be okay. It sounds worst than it really is :-)...I will be just fine. I know who my Great Protector is! Besides, if something happens I'll run and hide in the bathtub! It is one of those old iron claw foot tubs...hee,hee!
InaShade: LOL! That is a mean thing for your brother to do! (grin) Lisa

I guess that you are in for a good one again, i suppose that means we will get whats left in a few days time, especialy if its heading east, i hope that you all get through it without to much damage.

Lisa, i saw on one of those US tv shows once, a woman survived a tornado hit because she was in the bath tub,i hope i dont see you on a show in the same way, i love a good storm, but i dont envy the ones you get.

You will ALL be back here tomorrow safe and sound, with some tales to tell.

Alan.

Well, it's here..the rain is pounding. Rats! I am sure going to be upset if we hit 1000 and I've lost my electricity! We often lose power during thunderstorms...LOL! Lisa

I missed the famous post Lisa, I knew I would. I was almost dragged out of the house by DH. Now I'm darn disappointed I missed the 'coming' after waiting all this time in anticipation. Are you OK? I know you have posted on another forum somewhere and I want to check out the time to see if everything's alright with you.

We are great, the weather is very quiet right now :-) Lisa

Naah, dont know what all the fuss is about, looks ok out of my window, i cant see any storm, smile.

Alan.

hee, hee, Lisa

This doent look good, are you lot still with us, or can i expect a bath tub in my garden any time now, hope its the one with Lisa in it, smile.

Alan.

Alan, we are all fine, no flying bath tubs or none in your garden! Today is a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky. Just to muddy to do anything outside (sigh)...Thanks for the smile :-) Lisa