Devastation in Oklahoma

[psolk 3,037]

RIP and prayers to all those affected...  Absolutely devastating!!!  Hope all our fellow simmers in the area are ok.
BREAKING NEWS: Rescuers comb through debris for survivors after massive twister with 200mph winds churns through Moore, Okla

http://www.foxnews.com/weather/slide...sters/#slide=1

Amazing video...
http://video.foxnews.com/v/2397093491001/

 

[BillW 210]

If you have never been in a tornado, you can't imagine the terror these people have gone through. They now are looking for bodies and don't expect to find survivors. It's awful.

[z06z33 763]

They are very scary I live in north Alabama and we had one come very close to my Home back in 2011. My Dad and I could hear it it didn't sound like a train at all to me it sounded like a 727 at full throttle. I found debris from over 200 miles away.

[psolk 3,037]

I had one take out the buildings across the street from me during Hurricane Irene. (Video is on Youtube) A year later came Sandy, no twister but massive devastation obviously...

 

Last I heard was 51 dead now, watched it go from 4 to 10 to 37 to 51 and still waiting to hear if they find any survivors at the school.

 

Can't do much else but wish them nothing but the best right now.  It is unimaginable until you really face the reality of losing everything and even worse losing someone you know or love.

[Matthew Kane 1,343]

I've only experienced Huricanes in Nova Scotia but never a tornado. This one looks like the monster of all monster storms. One report said a kilometre wide with winds over 300 km/h. I couldn't imagine what that would be like. Stick your hand outside the window of a car on the freeway and a tornado would be three times stronger then that.

 

I wish all the best to the survivors as they rebuild and RIP to the victims

[gizmosellsbunnys 106]

Scary knowing some cloud can take a town out. It happen in Western Minnesota 15 years ago took out a whole town.  Feel, for them down there that is scary a tornado because you do not know where it will touch down and cause hovac. 

[RWFeldman 159]

Currently cleaning the yard of trees from a Tornado we had last night. Took part of the roof but just a blow compared to the F5 Oklahoma twister.

[HawkDsl 50]

They are reporting that More may have had one of the largest tornadoes in history.. two miles wide at the base. Absolutely an F5. Moore of course, no longer exist.

 

Sad, very sad.

 

But tis the season out in the "heart" land. There will be others.

[John_Cillis 2,406]

If you have never been in a tornado, you can't imagine the terror these people have gone through. They now are looking for bodies and don't expect to find survivors. It's awful.

 

Rest assured, I am sure the first responders, neighbors and others that help in such a situation will find survivors and the search won't be fruitless.  I always tell family and friends to seek out the stories of the rescues that take place during these events--it really helps one find comfort in a sad situation.

 

I've experienced Tornadoes a few times over 50 some odd years (I was caught outside once during a small F0 Tornado), but nothing that compares to today's.  The worst tornado I've experienced was an F2 in November of '65 when I was living in Tinley Park, IL.  2 lives were lost and 90 injured.  We huddled in our basement and only had some minor damage to some trees and vegetation on our property, but a nearby school lost its roof.  That was my last full year living in the midwest--my parents moved me to the west coast about nine months later.  But in my travels in the 90's, I had to endure several Tornado warnings with some coming quite close to where I'd be staying.

 

In the late 90's. I visited the small hamlet of Siren, Wisconsin to install some systems and train some staff at a new hotel.  The hotel was a magnificent structure made like a log cabin.  Several years after my visit, Siren WI had an F3 Tornado touch down that caused substantial damage--but the hotel survived, given its construction.  Much of the town was later rebuilt in the same manner as the hotel.  I remember the owners of that hotel fondly, they were very nice people and I recall they were helpful to the small community after the Tornado.  I had the misfortune to be there during my birthday, and the hotel owners (my clients) had a little party for me with a cake.  But I digress.....  I was just so impressed with how nice they were.

 

Regards,

 

John

[LHookins 3,102]

My brother in law lives in Moore. He and his wife were an hour and a half away from home when the tornado hit. We finally got a report from him a few minutes ago that his house was untouched, but a block away was totally destroyed.

 

Hook

[John_Cillis 2,406]

My brother in law lives in Moore. He and his wife were an hour and a half away from home when the tornado hit. We finally got a report from him a few minutes ago that his house was untouched, but a block away was totally destroyed.

 

Hook

 

Wow, amazing how less than a hundred yards can make a difference in a Tornado.  That's what I always remembered about the warnings I went through--99 pct. of the time the Tornado was never heard, never seen.  It's their unpredictability that cause warnings over such a wide area, and the mesocyclones that usually spawn them can sometimes spawn several tornadoes.  In Arizona we get "downbursts" which can also be very selective in destruction.

 

 One year, my neighbor's tree was smashed into the ground by a downburst as if a giant hammer had struck it from above.  A year later, I was in my upstairs studio when I heard a weird wooshing sound--there was thunder in the distance but I didn't think anything of it.  But curiosity made me look out the window, and I found half of our 40 foot tree across the driveway--it miraculously fell in such a way as to miss the house by just about a foot.

 

John

[Jeff Nielsen 1,385]

This was really, really bad. Here was my radar grab from the TORE for OKC.  I've only seen a debris ball like this a couple of times.  Notice the velocity is gate to gate maxed on the right panel.

 

[XPX64man 130]

They are very scary I live in north Alabama and we had one come very close to my Home back in 2011. My Dad and I could hear it it didn't sound like a train at all to me it sounded like a 727 at full throttle. I found debris from over 200 miles away.

 

 

I also live in north Alabama and I know we go through several periods with great concern over tornado threats each year.  After the April tornadoes a couple of years ago, I put in a storm shelter outside of my home, that is F5 rated by NOAA.  I just didn't want to live under that uncertainty when the radar shows that impending threat looming over you.

Living in areas where tornadoes are common, like Alabama, Kansas and Oklahoma, schools, public buildings and private homes should all have tornado shelters available, either public or private.

The mind can't comprehend the power of a tornado. No level of confidence can be supported outside of a shelter.

[z06z33 763]

I also live in north Alabama and I know we go through several periods with great concern over tornado threats each year.  After the April tornadoes a couple of years ago, I put in a storm shelter outside of my home, that is F5 rated by NOAA.  I just didn't want to live under that uncertainty when the radar shows that impending threat looming over you.

Living in areas where tornadoes are common, like Alabama, Kansas and Oklahoma, schools, public buildings and private homes should all have tornado shelters available, either public or private.

The mind can't comprehend the power of a tornado. No level of confidence can be supported outside of a shelter.

I'm lucky enough that my parents home where I'm spending the summer has a basement that's about 15 feet underground but when I'm at my apartment in Tuscaloosa for school I have no protection at all as I'm on the 3rd floor at that point I think I'll try my luck out running it in my 350z

[John_Cillis 2,406]

I'm lucky enough that my parents home where I'm spending the summer has a basement that's about 15 feet underground but when I'm at my apartment in Tuscaloosa for school I have no protection at all as I'm on the 3rd floor at that point I think I'll try my luck out running it in my 350z

 

We were fortunate in the '65 Tinley Park Tornado to have a basement.  However I remember one eerie thing.  The wind stirred up so much static electricity that you could see large sparks arcing against the outside of the basement windows.  It was one of those images I've never forgotten over the years.  It was interesting--I was in North Platte Nebraska when another tornado outbreak hit in '75, staying overnight in the home of a minister of a local Lutheran church.  When the tornado sirens went off, I asked him if we were going to his shelter.  He calmly said no--he knew no tornado was nearby.  Either that, or he had a direct line to the Guy upstairs! :smile:

 

John