d-usa wrote: When one of these things hits, I don't even think brick and mortar homes stand a chance. This thing was two-miles wide at times. Horrible.
Not another one. My prayers for yall up there.
masonry helps, but schools are typically masonry now. A direct hit from a tornado will generally take out masonry walls without difficulty. A high cat tornado will even suck the concrete foundation away.
EDIT: holy crap I've never ever heard of atwo mile wide tornado. Thats Doomsday type gak.
You see homes gone, and you know people will have lost their lives....
I've seen some terrible things in this life, but watching a field full of dead and dying horses writhing on the ground, that had been impaled with debris....
Why isn't Shelter basements a requirement for insurance or new builds?
You see homes gone, and you know people will have lost their lives....
I've seen some terrible things in this life, but watching a field full of dead and dying horses writhing on the ground, that had been impaled with debris....
Why isn't Shelter basements a requirement for insurance or new builds?
It's a tornado...
The worst ones are actually strong enough to gouge the foundation of a building if they make a direct hit. An F5 will have wind speeds in excess of over 400km/hr.
Yeah. If the tornado is bad enough and a building takes a direct hit, it doesn't really matter what the building is made out of or whether or not there was a basement.
Right now the Severe Storm center is calling it an estimated EF4... I highly expect once their teams actually arrive in the area to help assess everything, it'll be instantly upgraded to an EF5.
St.Louis is now under a Tornado Watch/Warning, along with what sounds like of northern Texas.
Up here, Ontario is going to get pounded starting late tonight/early morning hours, and by mid afternoon the lakeshore corridor will be getting hit.
Time to bunker down and stay safe everyone. Storm season means serious business these next few days.
SilverMK2 wrote: I still don't understand why you guys build houses out of wood in areas well known for these kinds of storms..
Honestly, unless you're constructing some sort of military grade bunker, I doubt your home would survive a hit from a tornado. Even if the 200mph wind doesn't destroy your house, the debris it's whipping around certainly will.
Experiment 626 wrote: Right now the Severe Storm center is calling it an estimated EF4... I highly expect once their teams actually arrive in the area to help assess everything, it'll be instantly upgraded to an EF5.
St.Louis is now under a Tornado Watch/Warning, along with what sounds like of northern Texas.
Up here, Ontario is going to get pounded starting late tonight/early morning hours, and by mid afternoon the lakeshore corridor will be getting hit.
Time to bunker down and stay safe everyone. Storm season means serious business these next few days.
Yeah, we're preparing our shelter for tonight. Gonna be sleeping lightly.
djones520 wrote: Yes, this town was wiped from the map in 1999 by similar tornado. They rebuilt it the town be much stronger, and more resistant.
Preliminary reports indicate that this storm was stronger then the 99 storm...
Sadly unlike lightning, tornadoes tend to strike the same spot repeatedly...
Some early facts coming in;
- tornado currently classed as an initial EF4 with winds likely exceeding well over 200 miles per hour
- Moore Medical center was hit, and has been evacuated
- 2 elementary schools were hit. A bunch of 3rd graders are suspected trapped in the rubble of the worst hit school
- around 3500+ homes were in the main damage path
- 4 confirmed dead, including a 7mo old infant
- at least 2 other tornadoes are still on the ground in other areas.
- St.Louis now under a tornado warning.
Plus:
- Nothern states near the great lakes & all of Southern Ontario are in for severe, likely damaging weather starting late tonight.
And because Mother Nature is a vindictive b*****:
- Gander Newfoundland just got over 50cm of snow this weekend! (seems winter is still coming afterall...)
Saw one formed at Campbell in 96. Green clouds...thick...ugly...scarey....formed quick...took out a Apache....two Blackhawks and the POL point that was nearby. They were parked btw.
Jihadin wrote: Saw one formed at Campbell in 96. Green clouds...thick...ugly...scarey....formed quick...took out a Apache....two Blackhawks and the POL point that was nearby. They were parked btw.
Burlington luckily is kinda just sitting in between the two main stretches of Ontario's tornado ally, so thankfully I've never had to duck 'n cover and just pray...
But last summer we had a storm come through, late night like around 10pm so it's was complete pitch darkness... the trees were literally bending 90 degrees, you could feel the entire house shaking... crap like small branches & unsecured small patio furniture flying about... I've never been so freaking scared shitless in my life!
There was a downburst from that storm about 20 blocks over from my house that did some decent damage and made a huge mess of things.
Hamilton which is about 6-10 minute drive west on the QEW however got hit by an F2 about 8 years ago, so we've had some really freaking close calls!
Current count is at 51. My hospital has opened up to civilians to accept overflow from the other facilities in the area. Talked to a good friend of mine whose sister was working in the grade school that was leveled. Said she was covering her 6 year old students when a car flew through the wall and landed next to her. She made it out alive though.
d-usa wrote: Current count is at 51. My hospital has opened up to civilians to accept overflow from the other facilities in the area. Talked to a good friend of mine whose sister was working in the grade school that was leveled. Said she was covering her 6 year old students when a car flew through the wall and landed next to her. She made it out alive though.
An Airman in our unit grew up there. He was able to get ahold of his sister, but last I heard they hadn't found his parents yet, and their home had been destroyed...
Yes 51 dead at a minimum at this point. Expect it to go much higher. reports are there are people trapped in shelters under houses, trying to get them out.
God bless them, give strength to the rescue crews and the survivors. It hit a fething elementary school. Jesus Christ.
Automatically Appended Next Post: At least 24 kids in rubble of school. Don't know if alive.
Fox showing 120 patients now including 70 kids.
I live in Norman and was in OKC for a Dr. appointment and driving home when the tornado hit I saw the damn thing; very surreal. It took me more than 3 hours to get home and had to turn back several times because of wreckage blocking roads. My heart goes out to all the folks in Moore.
Car I passed on my way home. I hope these people made it out ok; looked like it had been flipped a few times. Trees were plucked and even the side of a hillside that was green the day before was barren dirt.
I didn't take pics of the areas of Moore I had to drive through; people running down the streets towards schools, wreckage everywhere. My thoughts are with all the people who suffered a loss today.
I'm almost certain this will eventually be classified as an EF5 tornado.
It's not just the fact that buildings have been destroyed, but rather we have solidly constructed buildings that were nailed to the foundation which have been 100% removed... Multi-story buildings have been completely flattened... Large trees completely uprooted and tossed...
You need wind speeds upward of, and typically in excess of 200 miles per hour to do those kinds of things.
Some folks in Tuscan have reportedly picked up debris that is likely from Moore. That's a very, very extreme storm that does that...
Yeah. Friend of mine who is a reporter said that he spend the last 5 hours watching the recovery efforts there and said that there would be some devastating news from those efforts.
This was at the same time as the ME stating that the official count was stsill 51 but that they were informed to expect 40 more bodies. They will not increase the number until all bodies are processed though.
The timing of the news coming out here seems to imply so. After hours of recovery at the school the ME was informed to expect 40 bodies, with the previous official count being 51. They reported that the official count will go up as bodies are processed by the ME.
Soladrin wrote: Yeah, same here. I really can't imagine anything on that scale when the worst we ever get is a bit of thunder.
Comically enough, tornadoes are one of those little jokes shared between Canadians and our American cousins...
In the US, the main problem is our cold, artic Canadian air sinking further south which then sets everything off. Here in Canada, it's the opposite where hot moist tropical air from the southern US suddenly moves further north and sets off the whole process!
Unlike the US though and it's (in)famous Tornado Ally, in Canada we have multiple 'Tornado Ally-wannabe's' across areas of southern Quebec, southern Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan & Alberta!
Basically, the Jetstream is a very fickle thing, with the US Midwest typically being the epicenter for the worst of it.
Still, it's one of those, "blame Canada/America" type of jokes when you're looking to lighten the mood a little.
Experiment 626 wrote: with the US Midwest typically being the epicenter for the worst of it.
Still, it's one of those, "blame Canada/America" type of jokes when you're looking to lighten the mood a little.
That's one thing I was told that I needed to get used to when I moved over, and why my wife refuses to live in a house without a basement. Before I moved over we had a deal - I could worry when I heard the news about tornadoes, she could worry when she heard about bombs/shootings/etc.
MrDwhitey wrote: Watching the videos, that thing is terrifying. Two miles wide at times? Can't even fathom it.
You're right, it's insane to try and think of the scale of that thing. That is a little less than half of the width of my city. The sheer destruction that would cause is insane :-\
When Leslie Hagelberg went outside of her West Tulsa, Okla., home on Sunday evening to check the weather, she noticed what appeared to be insulation and pieces of paper falling from the sky.
But it wasn't until she found a photograph near her mailbox that it dawned on her what was happening: debris and belongings from the tornado that had struck in Shawnee -- 90 miles away -- had made their way to her yard.
Hagelberg logged into Facebook and found that many of her neighbors had reported finding items, so she decided to start a Facebook group to reunite victims of the tornado with their missing belongings.
The Facebook group was expanded Monday, to help people who were affected by the devastating tornado that ripped through Moore, Okla., killing dozens of people.
The Facebook group has taken off. As of Monday evening, nearly 7,000 members had joined and pictures of hundreds of items had been posted to the page.
So far, Hagelberg estimated that 60 items -- mostly photos and artwork -- have been claimed by their owners.
Even an urn was claimed after a picture was posted to the page.
"I'm just trying to help," Hagelberg told The Huffington Post. "I couldn't imagine losing my kids' pictures."
"I want everyone to know they're welcome to post whatever they find," she said, noting that people should refrain from posting documents that may contain personal information, like Social Security cards and blank checks.
Visit the Facebook page to help reunite victims of the tornadoes with their belongings.
Remember that a tornado is a lot wider than it looks. The funnel that you actually see is not the width of the tornado. The width is measured by the actual winds which extend out quite a bit. What you see is just the most dense part of the debris cloud.
Yeah, that kind of stuff happens nearly every time. It rains mud sometimes too. I've got a pic of a hill not too far from my house that was scoured of vegetation yesterday.
Christ, and I thought living in Ohio was hell with weather, at least we don't see this stuff. Come on over to Ohio d-usa, we've got MLS soccer stadium, various "Little Germany" areas, and you can game with the warhams, Infinity, etc...
I cannot imagine what the parents are going through--truly horrific.
For those of you who are interested in helping--Operation USA have announced they are staging in Oklahoma. They were one of the groups essential in rebuilding/supporting urgent care clinics in my home state after the Joplin tornado--and have an excellent reputation.
#Breaking: Medical examiner has revised #MooreTornado death toll—now say 24 dead, including 7 children
— ABC News (@ABC) May 21, 2013
Not as bad as originally reported. But, they're still in search & rescue mode, so that number can still rise.
...Never mind, reading comprehension fail moment! (happens when I go without any sleep because its thundering & pounding rain into my bedroom window all night...)
Man as a lifelong resident ( more or less, minus 2 years in the city) of Moore (and a survivor of may 3 1999) this is nuts...
I was stuck in N okc at work so I was safe, but my gal was asleep and un-reachable at home in moore in the 2nd floor of our 2 story home so it was a very stressful day. Luckily my father was leaving a jobsite close by and was headed to his storm shelter and we live close enough that he could bang on the door and drag her with him.
Our house was luckily spared, as was his. Even as I type luckily I cringe because by missing us it had to hit loved ones on either side of us... ones whom lost their whole homes and everything.. worse yet I fear the worst for my friends' families who lives just west of the warren as no one can reach them. I'm hoping with the death toll lowering to 20's (if kfor is correct) that there is a very minimal chance they were casualties..
It's just crazy to see the amount of this damage...
My old house is gone.. Old donut shop gone.. friends parents home gone, other friends parents home gone, 3 other friends homes gone.. just.. nuts.
I can't believe the kids were in that school... I can't believe a lot of this and I'm a lifelong resident.. who was hit may 3rd and dealt with all that...
I'm ready to move guys.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
SilverMK2 wrote: I still don't understand why you guys build houses out of wood in areas well known for these kinds of storms...
However, I hope everyone gets sorted out quickly and gets everything they need in the meantime.
djones520 wrote: That was more then a block away. His car would have gotten thrown, if he'd just been a block away.
Well... I suppose you didn't see the 7-11 at 4th and telephone that was leveled... but the cars outside at the pumps were unharmed.. as was the pump canopy... but the 7-11 itself, gone. thats why I put a ? but was repeating the man's claim. 1 block is probably incorrect, it is the closest footage I have seen though. Just pointing out that something can get demolished and 25 feet away stuff is relatively fine... look at the streets where there are relatively unharmed houses, then across street nothing but slabs..
djones520 wrote: That was more then a block away. His car would have gotten thrown, if he'd just been a block away.
Well... I suppose you didn't see the 7-11 at 4th and telephone that was leveled... but the cars outside at the pumps were unharmed.. as was the pump canopy... but the 7-11 itself, gone. thats why I put a ? but was repeating the man's claim. 1 block is probably incorrect, it is the closest footage I have seen though. Just pointing out that something can get demolished and 25 feet away stuff is relatively fine... look at the streets where there are relatively unharmed houses, then across street nothing but slabs..
Tornados are funky beast.
I've seen a house obliterated, and the next door neighbors only had roof damage...
djones520 wrote: That was more then a block away. His car would have gotten thrown, if he'd just been a block away.
Well... I suppose you didn't see the 7-11 at 4th and telephone that was leveled... but the cars outside at the pumps were unharmed.. as was the pump canopy... but the 7-11 itself, gone. thats why I put a ? but was repeating the man's claim. 1 block is probably incorrect, it is the closest footage I have seen though. Just pointing out that something can get demolished and 25 feet away stuff is relatively fine... look at the streets where there are relatively unharmed houses, then across street nothing but slabs..
Tornados are funky beast.
I've seen a house obliterated, and the next door neighbors only had roof damage...
I'd believe it!
Same here.
When Barrie got fustigated in the early 80's by an F4, my mum saw one house that from the front looked perfectly untouched... except for the back half that was completely ripped away once you walked around the side of the property. The tornado literally just cut the whole house clean in half!
I mean, the school that just got completely flattened there in Moore is now nothing more than a 10-foot high mountain of shrapnel & rubble in places, and yet, the freaking playground equipment is still standing...
Tornadoes, they're just Mother Nature rolling a bunch of cover saves to see what makes it and what doesn't!
Yeah when may 3 99' happened I was standing in my bedroom looking out of the window at the end of my street at my buddies house and all of a sudden it just exploded. not like the normal tearing stuff upward and apart like a tornado does, but the house literally exploded every direction then started drifting upward as debris finally.. then the next house.. then it was like "oh gak run to the bathroom, we are doomed" where we hid and luckily were unscathed... Literally what other people are describing.. 5 houses gone. 2 look like they ready to be sold... 3 with lots of damage.. 1 with minor damage... then another 5 completely missing... they are strange... may 3rd literally hit 3 houses from mine, jumped the 2 in front of us, ours, and the one behind us, re landed on the next house and took it and the next 2... It was terrible.. It does make you realize that these things are strange as can be....
there was a guy who's house was leveled except a hallway he was standing in, holding his dog inside of...
all sorts of craziness...
the 711 im talking about that was destroyed has buildings across the street that are repairable while the 7-11 is a slab literally... but their pumps still there, as are the cars at the pumps.. sad part is a family of 4 including an infant who were caught in their vehicle left the vehicle and apparently were found deceased hiding in the freezer of the 7-11 :(
Perspective is a funny thing, though. People think they're a block away because that's where it kind of looks like the debris cloud starts, but the wind could be further in or further out from that. It only looks like there's a clear "in the tornado/not in the tornado" line when you are far away. Up close, it is a lot fuzzier and hard to judge.
One thing is for sure, that video was taken from an absurdly unsafe distance.
Rented Tritium wrote: Perspective is a funny thing, though. People think they're a block away because that's where it kind of looks like the debris cloud starts, but the wind could be further in or further out from that. It only looks like there's a clear "in the tornado/not in the tornado" line when you are far away. Up close, it is a lot fuzzier and hard to judge.
One thing is for sure, that video was taken from an absurdly unsafe distance.
the buzz i'm hearing is the guy was braving it because his kids were in one of the schools that were directly hit, not just because he's gakking insane
Rented Tritium wrote: Perspective is a funny thing, though. People think they're a block away because that's where it kind of looks like the debris cloud starts, but the wind could be further in or further out from that. It only looks like there's a clear "in the tornado/not in the tornado" line when you are far away. Up close, it is a lot fuzzier and hard to judge.
One thing is for sure, that video was taken from an absurdly unsafe distance.
the buzz i'm hearing is the guy was braving it because his kids were in one of the schools that were directly hit, not just because he's gakking insane
Can't blame him...
If my kidz were in that school... no tornado is sucking my ass.
Rented Tritium wrote: Perspective is a funny thing, though. People think they're a block away because that's where it kind of looks like the debris cloud starts, but the wind could be further in or further out from that. It only looks like there's a clear "in the tornado/not in the tornado" line when you are far away. Up close, it is a lot fuzzier and hard to judge.
One thing is for sure, that video was taken from an absurdly unsafe distance.
the buzz i'm hearing is the guy was braving it because his kids were in one of the schools that were directly hit, not just because he's gakking insane
The complete lack of commentary pretty much tells us he's no storm chaser... because those dudes are just a bunch of crazy-ass loons!
Bless 'em though, it's only thanks to their tireless efforts and the insane risks they take to record these storms with their pretty much mobile weather labs that have helped advanced doplar radar & newer prediction technologies. The Severe Storm Center down there could actually see the "debris ball" of the tornado which allowed them to pretty much perfectly track the path it was taking and thus give warnings of upto 16 minutes to people in the storm's path...
10-15 years ago, we'd be lucky to have what, 5-10 minutes at the absolute most? (and on a good day to boot...)
Rented Tritium wrote: Perspective is a funny thing, though. People think they're a block away because that's where it kind of looks like the debris cloud starts, but the wind could be further in or further out from that. It only looks like there's a clear "in the tornado/not in the tornado" line when you are far away. Up close, it is a lot fuzzier and hard to judge.
One thing is for sure, that video was taken from an absurdly unsafe distance.
the buzz i'm hearing is the guy was braving it because his kids were in one of the schools that were directly hit, not just because he's gakking insane
Can't blame him...
If my kidz were in that school... no tornado is sucking my ass.
I don't have kids but I can only imagine how the guy felt, and I think that captures it well...
Rented Tritium wrote: Perspective is a funny thing, though. People think they're a block away because that's where it kind of looks like the debris cloud starts, but the wind could be further in or further out from that. It only looks like there's a clear "in the tornado/not in the tornado" line when you are far away. Up close, it is a lot fuzzier and hard to judge.
One thing is for sure, that video was taken from an absurdly unsafe distance.
the buzz i'm hearing is the guy was braving it because his kids were in one of the schools that were directly hit, not just because he's gakking insane
The complete lack of commentary pretty much tells us he's no storm chaser... because those dudes are just a bunch of crazy-ass loons!
Bless 'em though, it's only thanks to their tireless efforts and the insane risks they take to record these storms with their pretty much mobile weather labs that have helped advanced doplar radar & newer prediction technologies. The Severe Storm Center down there could actually see the "debris ball" of the tornado which allowed them to pretty much perfectly track the path it was taking and thus give warnings of upto 16 minutes to people in the storm's path...
10-15 years ago, we'd be lucky to have what, 5-10 minutes at the absolute most? (and on a good day to boot...)
Yeah they are very deserving of praise for what they do and the risks they take. It takes a tremendous amount of bravery, that's for sure.
As a pet owner, (I've got me two absolutely adorable little kittens ), I can't even begin to imagine how I'd feel if a tornado blew my house into kindling and left me realising my little girls are likely gone...
So glade to hear & see these stories of people finding and being reunited with their extended furry family members!
And the National Weather Service has recently just confirmed that EF5 scale damage has been seen at the Briarwood Elementary school.
That's 2 F5 tornadoes hitting roughly the same area within a span of just 14 years! (I don't even want to pretend there are actual, calculable odds of that happening - it's just so completely mind-blowing!)
Early estimates are saying likely $1billion in insurance claims/damages...
why build a city on land that's known for tornadoes to roll through? don't get me wrong what happened was bad, but I find it hard to wrap my head around the location of this city, just like I cannot sympathize really for California when an earthquake strikes, its bound to happen when you live on a fault line.
TeejK wrote: why build a city on land that's known for tornadoes to roll through? don't get me wrong what happened was bad, but I find it hard to wrap my head around the location of this city, just like I cannot sympathize really for California when an earthquake strikes, its bound to happen when you live on a fault line.
a) All of North fething America is a hazard zone of some kind... Floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, massive forest fires...
You know what, it's almost like they're naturally occurring disasters we can't stop!
b) Please tell me you realise that BC is apparently just as 'dumb' for living a major quake hazard zone... As well as the entire Great Lakes region come to think of it...
Otherwise, welcome to planet Earth, where the sky is blue, the water's sometimes fresh and where disastrous gak happens on a yearly basis!
Here is a picture from Plaza Towers elementary where my friends sister was protecting the kids she was teaching. She was laying on top of them just next to the door on the left side and almost got crushed by the car flying through the wall.
d-usa wrote: Here is a picture from Plaza Towers elementary where my friends sister was protecting the kids she was teaching. She was laying on top of them just next to the door on the left side and almost got crushed by the car flying through the wall.
TeejK wrote: why build a city on land that's known for tornadoes to roll through? don't get me wrong what happened was bad, but I find it hard to wrap my head around the location of this city, just like I cannot sympathize really for California when an earthquake strikes, its bound to happen when you live on a fault line.
Don't be daft. The whole Great PLains is subject to tornadoes like that. Further, tornadoes are recorded most locations East of the Rockies and South of New England.
I think every part of the continent gets them. We just get a lot fewer of them, and smaller. To the best of my knowledge Oklahoma doesn't get regular blizzards like we do, or regular earthquakes like Cali, or hurricanes every year like Florida. Most of the US (and Canada, and probably Mexico, but I'm more ignorant about them) has at least one form of extreme and damaging weather periodically.
Not to say that they're all equal. This kind of thing is truly horrible, and I'll happily accept a couple of blizzards a year instead.
Mannahnin wrote: I think every part of the continent gets them. We just get a lot fewer of them, and smaller. To the best of my knowledge Oklahoma doesn't get regular blizzards like we do, or regular earthquakes like Cali, or hurricanes every year like Florida. Most of the US (and Canada, and probably Mexico, but I'm more ignorant about them) has at least one form of extreme and damaging weather periodically.
Not to say that they're all equal. This kind of thing is truly horrible, and I'll happily accept a couple of blizzards a year instead.
Yeah... I'd rather take blizzards than tornados anytime... but, I gotta tell ya, a blizzard in the great plains ain't nuthing to sneeze at.
Mannahnin wrote: Oh, no doubt. Blizzards aren't super fun either, especially in a place that's not used to (and equipped for) dealing with them regularly.
Have you driven across Hwy 70 in Kansas? I did about 12 years ago...
It comes up quick...
They have these gates to actually shut down the highway during blizzards because there's simply not enough equipment (and need really) to keep it open.
I swear, they "shut the gates" like minutes after I passed it and BLAMO! Got stuck in a blizzard.
Luckily, it was during daylight... but, I.COULD.NOT.SEE.THE.fething.ROAD. IT was a whiteout... scary as feth.
Fortunately, me and another car followed a semi all the way out of the storm. I'm sure we both were praying that the truck knew where the road begin and end. That's why I have *stuff* in my car now to hold me over for a day or two, cuz I swore I'd never do that again. I'd rather just park somewhere and wait for the road to open up again.
Had to pick up the wife from work during a blizzard about 5 years ago. You could not see the road 6 feet in front of you. I was just hoping that the car in front of me knew wherer they were going because if they were driving into a ditch I was going to follow their tail lights.
d-usa wrote: Had to pick up the wife from work during a blizzard about 5 years ago. You could not see the road 6 feet in front of you. I was just hoping that the car in front of me knew wherer they were going because if they were driving into a ditch I was going to follow their tail lights.
Lots of people coming in to help in Moore, but there are other towns that were hit by tornadoes the day before that are getting somewhat ignored. So everybody is trying to coordinate effords there.
Lots of people coming in to help in Moore, but there are other towns that were hit by tornadoes the day before that are getting somewhat ignored. So everybody is trying to coordinate effords there.
Mannahnin wrote: Oh, no doubt. Blizzards aren't super fun either, especially in a place that's not used to (and equipped for) dealing with them regularly.
In July and August, I sometimes pull a Twilight Zone and dream I'm in a blizzard. Then I wake up to reality and the world is melting.
Dude it was 96 in Austin last weekend.
Have you driven across Hwy 70 in Kansas? I did about 12 years ago...
It comes up quick...
They have these gates to actually shut down the highway during blizzards because there's simply not enough equipment (and need really) to keep it open.
I swear, they "shut the gates" like minutes after I passed it and BLAMO! Got stuck in a blizzard.
Luckily, it was during daylight... but, I.COULD.NOT.SEE.THE.fething.ROAD. IT was a whiteout... scary as feth.
Fortunately, me and another car followed a semi all the way out of the storm. I'm sure we both were praying that the truck knew where the road begin and end. That's why I have *stuff* in my car now to hold me over for a day or two, cuz I swore I'd never do that again. I'd rather just park somewhere and wait for the road to open up again.
Yeah, the Trans Canada Highway is exactly like that from Manitoba through into Alberta!
Hell, if a snowstorm blows through and nothing gets closed down, it's considered a true miracle! (especially in Saskatchewan where the terrain resembles: _________________, with the occasional building or maybe even a tree or two every hundred kilometers or so! )
Mannahnin wrote: Oh, no doubt. Blizzards aren't super fun either, especially in a place that's not used to (and equipped for) dealing with them regularly.
In July and August, I sometimes pull a Twilight Zone and dream I'm in a blizzard. Then I wake up to reality and the world is melting.
Dude it was 96 in Austin last weekend.
But at least guys just deal with extreme heat...
Yesterday for example, we got upwards of almost 30 degrees with the humidex, meaning areas got hit with hail and pounding rain...
...And then for tonight we have fething frost warnings in place as the temps are going down to 0 overnight.
Hell, we still have some trees that haven't even really grown their leaves yet due to the constant rollercoaster of Spring--->Winter--->Summer--->Winter--->Spring--->Fall type temperature shifts we've been having ever since the beginning of April!
14 more people died in a separate storm outbreak last weekend, most of them from drowning during flash floods with the remainder being blown of the road in their vehicles and killed that way. Including some scientists that were chasing the storms:
d-usa wrote: 14 more people died in a separate storm outbreak last weekend, most of them from drowning during flash floods with the remainder being blown of the road in their vehicles and killed that way. Including some scientists that were chasing the storms:
That's insane!
If you on the highway... where do you go? Is the right way to shelter is to leave the car and go somewhere "low"?
whembly wrote: If you on the highway... where do you go? Is the right way to shelter is to leave the car and go somewhere "low"?
Pretty much. If I recall the Indiana driver's manual tells you to get to the side of the road, or under a bridge, exit the vehicle and get in a ditch or somewhere else low
If you on the highway... where do you go? Is the right way to shelter is to leave the car and go somewhere "low"?
That is exactly what some people did.
And they were killed when they were suddenly washed away in flash floods...
Not really any good solutions if you are caught out in the open.
That is the truth. Sometimes there is just nothing you can do. Getting to lower ground is the best plan when it comes to escaping a tornado. Flying debris doesn't follow the contours of the land so much. Flash flooding is a concern, as we saw with this event, but hugging the earth is a lot better then just standing in the open and making yourself a big ole target for that 2x4 flying at 150mph.
whembly wrote: If you on the highway... where do you go? Is the right way to shelter is to leave the car and go somewhere "low"?
Pretty much. If I recall the Indiana driver's manual tells you to get to the side of the road, or under a bridge, exit the vehicle and get in a ditch or somewhere else low
Never stay under an overpass. That just funnels the wind/debris, making them more dangerous.
(seems winter is still coming afterall...)
), I can't even begin to imagine how I'd feel if a tornado blew my house into kindling and left me realising my little girls are likely gone...
