What's incredible is that there doesn't seem to be much damage other than some blown-down fences. This is a populated area (large office buildings, supermarkets, housing) at this was just as children were walking home from school in the afternoon. We were very lucky today.
We're being pelted with heavy rain, hail and wind at the moment, but compared to what we had earlier, I'll take it. I will say taking cover in our finished basement is much nicer than the muddy storm cellar we had on the farm. The weather radio, and outside sirens started blaring, and having been hit by a tornado back in 2008, I don't take chances. We took cover and watched the tornado on-line from the safety of a cement-walled basement.
This is a good time to take the opportunity to recommend purchasing an emergency weather radio. You can't always rely on the sirens going off (in time, or at all) and it is the best $30.00 you can spend for ensuring your safety. You know, in case this happens...
That was pieces of the neighbour's hay barn hanging high in the tree on our front lawn in 2008. The remainder of the barn landed on the Volvo. They're solid cars, but they can't really withstand a barn.
Anyway, take the weather warnings seriously, and stay safe.
8 comments:
Wow! Just talked to a friend in Indiana who said they had triple tornado sirens yesterday.
Glad you're all ok (except for the nasty flu) & there was so little damage incurred.
The sky is beige here from all the smoke from ag burning turned wildfire. Every member of my family has their own shelf on our hall bookcase with their inhalers & eyedrops lined up. WHEEZE!
Stay safe! I've only witnessed one, in pre-monsoon India. The damage afterwards was scary. xxx
Oh dear, and then we're complaining about the lousy weather here. At least we are not having tornadoes. Stay safe, Goody. xxx
I'm glad you're safe! That looks terrifying.
Oh Goody - that looks terrifying but very exciting.....
I'm so glad you have somewhere safe to retreat to and that you have sirens etc to warn you. We have nothing like that here (to my knowledge) but then we've only had very small earthquakes.
Stay safe!
Veronica
@Bibi
I hope you get some rain soon to wash some of that crap out of the air. It sounds miserable.
@Vix
When we took the direct hit in 2008, we were underground in a storm cellar, in the dark and could only hear breaking glass and roaring wind. Now, with wireless internet, we were able to hunker-down and watch the tornado drop in real time. I think I prefer knowing what's happening outside...but it is a strange experience to see.
This one really was strange-no real damage save for a few small trees and part of a fence. Incredible, really.
@Ann
It is rare to get a tornado in the city. It happens, but most of the time they are out in rural areas where it is less populated. We could see the weather setting up to be bad, and living in Nebraska we're hyper-aware of tornadoes, but no one really expects one to drop on a busy street at rush hour.
@Mim
There's Youtube video of some guy's dash-cam footage as he was driving beneath it (You hear him muttering, "Don't drop...please don't drop" to the cloud). That would have been freaky, because you can't try to out-run it in heavy traffic, and there's nowhere to abandon the car and take cover. It really is a miracle n one was hurt.
@Veronica
I think I'd take a tornado to some of the floods I've seen in the UK-at least the tornado is done and over with quickly.
We have regular tests of the sirens as part of a Civil Defense drill (a hold-over from the Cold War) but these days if we hear a siren outside of test day, most people assume severe weather, not nuclear war (even living next door to Startcom). Do they still keep the air raid sirens tested in the UK?
I swear that seeing something like that so close would be the most scary thing, so glad you are all ok. Do most homes have a basement shelter?
I haven't heard air-raid sirens in years. Mr Robot grew up on the Norfolk coast, where there were a lot of air bases, and during the cold war era the sirens would regularly be tested. (Weirdly, given my dad was in the air force, I can't remember sirens being tested at all. My 1980s fear was of the IRA.)
I think nowadays when drills are done they're not for civilians, they're for the emergency services etc and are for what to do in a terrorist attack. No sirens for that.
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