OT: Tornado's (this time I was glad my wife takes so long to get ready)

 Grab a drink of your choice; I sure need something this morning. Just
getting back to it after a long weekend of cleaning up debris from our
last storm and debris from other people's homes in my pasture.
Friday started out about normal for Arkansas in the spring, weather
guy warning about sever weather and possible tornado's for early
afternoon, Jackie asked me to take the truck so I can get some horse
food and hay, I told her it looks like the storms will be getting here
about the time I'd be leaving work, and suggested she go ahead and
take the truck, the feed store is open at 07:00 and she could get
everything before the storms get here.
FF to 08:30 at work I see the radar map, storms are moving in faster
that everyone expected, one of my co-workers gets an e-mail from her
daughter, possible tornado touchdown in Damascus, I call home because
the freed store is in that town, no answer, so I call her cell phone,
no answer so I leave a message at both places.
About 10 mins later I get a call finally from Jackie, she's in the
truck on hwy 65 close to Damascus, traffic is stopped and emergency
vehicles headed southbound, she's telling me the rain and the wind is
so severe that she can't see the car stopped in front of her and the
truck is swaying back and forth, I told her about the possibility of a
Tornado touchdown near her and suggest she turn around and go home,
but she's not having any of that, she's so close she just want to wait
it out, and as I have her on the phone she describes the scene of
horses loose in the road, folks trying to round them up in the, now
hail and rain, sometime later she see's traffic is starting to move
and move forward with it, then she lets out this big "OMG" I can't
believe it, the freed store is gone, the house next to it is gone, the
big church south of the store is gone, the farm across the street is
gone, debris scattered everywhere, she never made it close enough to
get a good look before she had to turn around, but we both assumed the
worse.
Saturday morning, we go to the store and get some bottled water and
some donuts and stuff and head back to see if we can help out, this
will be the second time we've seen what a tornado can do, but I'll
tell ya it doesn't get easier, the folks that work at the feed store
made it to the grain bin that was kind of underground, the folks next
store, huddled in one bath tub, these were some of the survivors, all
in all 7 dead from this last storm, if Jackie would have listened to
me and left when I suggested, she would have been right in the middle
of the tornado when it hit, so this time I'm kind of glad she took her
good 'ol time.

--
Pete "The grateful Slug"


BS198

 

Glad y'all came through in one piece Pete, no fun is it.

--
Tony D AH# 129
Philly Hoodlum©#37

 
Thanks Tony, no it's not fun, and the weather guys are predicting more
bad storms later this week. batten down the hatches!


--
Pete "wishing I was back in Phila Slug"
BS198

 
Holy crap! What a harrowing tale. If I lived in that part of the country, I
think an underground storm shelter would be in order. Scary stuff.

 
You bet ya, the wife is now seriously thinking about it, we talked to
another guys that lost his house in the last (Feb) storms,he had a
safe room in the middle of his home, and is now thinking a undergound
shelter because the safe room had debris from the house covering the
exit. certainly scary shit.
--
Pete "underground shelter seeking slug"

BS198