Lots of tornados today in OK, MO, KS, NE, SD.
Some were F4, at least one was F5.
Over 60 spawned by this line of storms.
Everyone OK?
Lots of tornados today in OK, MO, KS, NE, SD.
Some were F4, at least one was F5.
Over 60 spawned by this line of storms.
Everyone OK?
Yeah, I’m good. It was northeast of me, we had some sirens for a while, but they went off after about 20 minutes. There was quite a bit of thunder and hail and rain, but besides that, nothing too bad in my neck of the woods.
Nothing I’ve heard about in St Louis yet (I’ve been at work all night - yes, I finally found a way to post from my new job!). But last I heard, the storms were still west of us and we haven’t seen the worst of it. Hopefully the torandos are done for now though, whether the storm cuts through St Louis or not.
The tornado that touched down in North K.C. was headed directly for us… it finally lifted off the ground about five blocks away! We might not have even known until it was upon us, but for the fact that my fiancee was on the phone with her sister who happened to mention she was watching it on the news. We then noticed the siren FAINTLY in the background. We turned on the news, and sure enough…
We had just been about to go out. The news suggested getting into the lowest level of the building, and we were on an upper level without a basement, so we decided to leave ASAP with pets in tow (two cats, one dog). After wrestling one irate cat from under the bed and herding them all into the car through the hail and driving rain, we set out. (Not a smart move in retrospect). We got one block before the hail was pelting the car hard enough to cause us to fear that the windshield would shatter. It appeared to be the size of golf balls. We turned around immediately (Can’t drive with a shattered windshield!) and hesitated momentaraly to leave the car… What if one of those suckers hit me in the head?
We dragged the pets back in, all of us soaked, and turned the news back on. We live a block or two from the highway, and the tornado was crossing that highway VERY nearby! We would have seen it, driven by it, through it, whatever…
It headed our direction, and the weatherman gave a play by play, using reports from nearby residents and listed an intersection five blocks away…! Right after naming the intersection, he got a report that it lifted off the ground at that same intersection… PHEW! Close one! The weatherman stated (a little late) that leaving your home is not a good idea. Apparently more people are injured/killed in their cars than their homes in these situations. The tornado by the way was classified F3, and was actually causing a lot of damage with its BASEBALL SIZED hail!
I’m rather lucky, my area got off with little to no damage (beyond the wind knocking dead branches off of trees, and onto things), but Jackson, Tennessee, (to the east of here, but then again, nearly everywhere in TN is east of here) got smacked by a tornado. (Story here.)
I thought I had moved out of tornado alley!
<< There’s no place like home. >>
Ooof. Last night we got hit with a HUGE thunderstorm (Cincinnati), but luckily no tornados. Thunder was literally shaking my room at some points, knocking stuff off their perches.
My god Shai’tan. We didn’t get hit by anything…too far south. But a friend of mine who lives up north had his house destroyed. I was horrified when I saw the footage of the wreckage at 435 and Leavenworth.
I’m so glad everyone is OK.
The Tabby family is OK. I started to type out a central plains doper check-in thread as soon as the storm was over, but lost power before I could finish typing. it’s just as well; I was so “fight or flight-y” last night that I was probably barely coherent anyhow. When the power came back on a few minutes later, we were already on the phone with our tenants to make sure everyone was safe and had a roof over their head.
We own six single-family home rentals in Greenfield, one in Lockwood, two in Joplin, and one in Nevada, MO. We are fixing up our victorian here in Greenfield, and it goes on the market in a couple of weeks. We will move into our new house in Nevada (two blocks from our rental there) at the end of the month.
Virtually everything we own was directly in the path of one tornado or another. :eek: The rentals are our retirement plan; we save up and put a down-payment on another house every year. The storms did significant damage within a few miles of our houses, but they all were unscathed.
Here in Greenfield, the sky was a freaky shade of yellow-green, and the air was so heavy that it was difficult to catch one’s breath. There was a billowing greeny-black wall cloud that passed right over us without dropping any funnels here. I think that may have been part of the supercell that went on to wipe out most of Pierce City. Pierce city had some gorgeous old 1870’s architecture downtown–all gone.
Stockton, MO has no more downtown. The Hammons Black Walnut Company is gone, too. It is inevitable that I will learn of someone I know who was directly affected by these storms, or lost their place of work because of them.
I feel lucky–but very, very sad.
–Kris
Well, I’m glad everyone’s ok (so far as the storms are concerned).
I’m from OKC and was here for the May 3, 1999 stuff. (been in 3 myself). Was part of a volunteer clean up / fix up crew.
When I woke up late Sunday morning (fun weekend!) I knew something was up, the air felt wrong. Nothing developed here, tho.
If anyone needs help of any kind, maybe we can organize it through The Dope. Just let us know.
Dad & I spent yesterday night huddled in a corner of the laundry room, sheltering behind the washer & dryer.
Our basement flooded, but worse happened elsewhere in Tennessee.
12 dead, last I heard.
And more tornados today & tonight.
24 hours of continual Tornado Watch.
The street one block from my niece and her family was completely levelled in K.C., but she and our other Midwest relatives escaped unharmed.
Still, not everyone was so lucky. Our hearts go out to those who’ve lost so much in the past day or so.
Not much that I’ve heard of over here. Haven’t seen the news though yet. Part of my track team was at the field and heard the sirens as they were leaving. Luckily no one was hurt.
I’m glad that I no longer live in an area that requries schools to hold tornado drills. I’ve been in one here and that was enough.
You know, now that I think about it…
If any Dopers were affected by the storms, it might be a while before they have a chance (or a way) to let us know.
So… if you know someone in the hard hit areas, maybe you could try to contact them.
Safe here in Tulsa, OK. Thanks for asking. Ya’ll are so sweet! gush
Good point, NoClueBoy.
I live 15 minutes away from Stockton (under normal circumstances, anyhow), and 40 minutes from Pierce City. The towns are off limits to anyone who does not need to be there at the moment, and there is no phone service or power there yet, but if you need to know about someone in the area, I’ll see what I can find out. My email addy is on.
It looks like we might get hammered with more of this crap this afternoon. We have to get my son to the orthopedist in Springfield this afternoon to get his cast taken off. I’m a bit worried about what we will drive into. I heard that F-2 or larger tornadoes and baseball-sized hail are possible again. We’ll cancel his appointment if it looks really bad.
The sun is shining here, but the air outside is very heavy again, and feels like a wet slap in the face. There are towering clouds off to the west. Ugh.
One of our tenants cannot find out where his grandmother is. She lives in Pierce City, and no one has seen her since the tornado. He was going down there today to try and locate her. ::crosses fingers hard::
Keep safe everyone, and make sure you have flashlights, batteries, and a battery-powered radio if you are in the path of these storms. Also, plan in advance where you will go for shelter. Some of the folks who died in these storms were just moments from safety.
–Kris
Hey NoClueBoy, I’m from OKC also and was here for the May 3, 1999 tornado. The auditorium of my high school (Westmoore) was ruined, but luckily no one I knew was hurt.
I hope everyone’s ok…it’s good to hear from the people who have posted in this thread.
If anyone needs help in my area, just let me know and I’d be glad to do what I can.
We went ahead and had Tabbykid’s cast taken off; he got it drenched on Saturday during an impromptu water balloon fight, and it was starting to smell like limburger cheese. I sprayed it with Febreeze this morning, so he could go to school. It was that bad! He was supposed to get it off next week, and his wrist has healed nicely, so the doctor worked us in at the end of the day.
We got done at the orthopedist at 5:00 or so, and we were all hungry. Hubby and kids wanted to stay in Springfield long enough to eat, but I insisted that we go right home, because I didn’t like the look of the sky. Hubby thought I was being “paranoid”.:rolleyes:
When we were nearly home, a thundercell popped up very quickly. I saw a wall cloud starting to drop out of it, and I told hubby, “That’s a f*cking wall cloud over there!” I don’t habitually swear in front of the Tabbykids, but I was pretty darn sure that’s what it was. Two minutes later, the cloud was huge and was starting to rotate. Mr. Tabby then conceded I was probably right. We pulled into our driveway to the dulcet ringing of the tornado siren, and got into the basement in record time.
The tornado did not touch down in our area that I know of, but it went on to cause damage in Polk county, a few miles away. Possibly major damage. It’s too soon to know.
If you live to the east of here, be on the lookout.
Be careful folks.
I live on the east coast and have been following the destruction on the evening news. It was heartbreaking seeing the damage done to Pierce City. It looked like a war zone. My prayers go out to all the Dopers who live in tornado territory. Be careful, because I’ve heard that conditions are perfect for more tornado activity very soon.
And here we go again!
Severe Thunderstorms enter Tennessee 5/7/03, 7:04 AM.
Wish us luck!
Link to local radar/weather–