SuzukiSavage.com /cgi-bin/YaBB.pl General Category >> The Cafe >> Lousy Weather /cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1306127766 Message started by Wolfman on 05/22/11 at 22:16:06

Title: Lousy Weather Post by Wolfman on 05/22/11 at 22:16:06 Not bad enough its been trying to wash us away or drown us(or both!). But mother nature tossed one he!! of a twister into the mix today. Run through the middle of joplin mo, looks bad, real bad. Initial word is a mile wide and 3 mile long path through town. Possibly an f4 or f5. Direct hit on the hospital, tore of some of the concrete faceing as well as blowing out all the windows and takeing the roof off. One nurse recalled seeing a 300 lb man sucked out a window. Less then 5 minutes warning. Surrounding neighborhoods flattened, you cant tell where the houses were. Power poles, steel light poles, cell towers snapped. Didnt see a tree standing. Cars piled on top of each other. Something like 27 cars, trucks and semis blowed off the highway(I44) where it crossed 24 dead for a start, many more will follow come morning. Wal-mart flattened, 4 schools hit and dont know how many houses or other buisnesses. One scool was supposedly totaled, one, not sure which, was haveing a graduation. Pretty much went right down main street from the sound of it at rush hour. Time for church to. Devastation as far as the eye could see. Looks as bad or worse then Tuscalusa(SP) in the videos You dont see parts of roofs or walls standing, just lots of debris. Was dropping debris a good 20-30 miles in front of the storm. Gov called out the National Guard and in this area that means its real bad. KS and OK had some good ones to. Twisters and softball sized hail. They just seemed to keep freight training through along the I44 and US 160 corridor. Been some kind of lousy spring so far. Glad i didnt go for a ride this evening.

Title: Re: Lousy Weather Post by KristenAnn on 05/23/11 at 05:04:49 I am glad you didnt either. Glad you are still with us. My thoughts and prayers are with all. It definately puts things into perspective for alot of people.

Title: Re: Lousy Weather Post by bluedad on 05/23/11 at 05:08:38 Riding around  in Alabama, I'm still struck by the widespread damage caused by the tornado's here a few weeks ago.  My thoughts and prayers go to the folks of Joplin.  My heart sank when I read the news this morning.

Title: Re: Lousy Weather Post by WD on 05/23/11 at 05:57:30 Saw it on the news this morning (0100 central). Joplin looks to be pretty well flattened. Same with parts of Minneapolis, 4 went through there back to back. A liitle town in Kansas got hammered bad too. We're in the spring tail of a La Nina cycle. Screwy weather is going to be with us for a while longer. I just hope the rest of the year doesn't follow the last 2 years worth of trends.

Title: Re: Lousy Weather Post by babyhog on 05/23/11 at 07:50:33 Already seen some amazing footage of Joplin.  Just devastating... Glad you are safe Wolfman.  How far away are you?

Title: Re: Lousy Weather Post by Serowbot on 05/23/11 at 08:22:13 Lousy weather,... quite an understatement... With the Japan earthquake, and then all the flooding and tornadoes,... I'm beginning to wonder if god didn't just skip the rapture and go straight for the four horsemen...... Hope everyone down there gets the help they need... at least a few members down there... MO – MISSOURI -Southpaw – Washington -12Bravo – Wellsville -Wolfman - Marshfield

Title: Re: Lousy Weather Post by kimchris1 on 05/23/11 at 08:39:40 So much destruction and devestation. Just had it on the news, winds about 200 mph. On the ground for 4 min. Debris found 60 miles away. Will keep them all in my prayers. Wow what a Spring this is turning out to be. kim

Title: Re: Lousy Weather Post by Wolfman on 05/23/11 at 12:49:35 Death toll went to 89 at 6 this morning as the sun was starting to come up. It will go up further. They were still doing surface rescues then. Sounds like a lot of folks missing.They start going through the debris mountains, not piles, they will find more. Fourth deadliest in the states record, worst in 50 years. Everybody was saying 75% of the town was gone but city manager said only 25-30% is gone. Something on the order of 2000 buildings just gone, city basicly cut in half. Tornado left a track 6 miles long and at least a 1/2 mile wide. Have'nt heard anyone mention the possible number of injured but they have been begging for ANY trained medical personel and blood. Its been likened to a city fought over in WWII, and it looks it. More storms rolled into the area with high gusty winds, heavy rains and quarter sized hail about 8:30 this morning and have carried on all day. Tommorrow is supposed to be as bad or worse then yesterday storm wise in the same areas here. BBH, im about 80 miles east north east from joplin. Right in the middle of tornado alley just like Joplin. Most any storm hits them rolls right over the top of us as well if it dont play out first. The I44 HWY 60 corridor just kind of channels em across SW MO. I was keeping an eye on it both on TV and outside. It was a nasty looking female dog. Debris ball on radar looked 5-10 miles across. Debris was showing up in peoples yards a good 20-30 miles ahead of the storm. LOT of medical debris from the hospital, x-rays, paper work ect. Some had been found as far as 60 to 70 miles away from joplin. We've had heavy flooding the last couple of weeks and with this latest rain the lakes are up again(had'nt went down much). Flash flood warnings all over. Been a heavy thunderstorm going on over joplin for the last couple of hours this evening.

Title: Re: Lousy Weather Post by Arnold on 05/23/11 at 12:50:32 60 miles in 4 min is 900 miles an hour :)

Title: Re: Lousy Weather Post by Wolfman on 05/23/11 at 13:54:35 Where you getting 4 minutes? Death toll as of 3:15 is 116 They have found 7 survivors in the rubble and more are hoped for. They have now started a grid search to go through the rubble. The count will most likely go up even higher. Preliminary survey is it was an EF4 with winds in the 198mph range. Storm chaser following the storm said they were running 45-50 mph and the storm was pulling away from them when it went through Joplin. They have had a t-storm over them for at least the last 3 hours with high winds, heavy rain and quarter sized hail hampering rescue efforts. http://www.ky3.com/news/ky3-story-joplin-tornado-update-20110523,0,6117936.story?page=2

Title: Re: Lousy Weather Post by Wolfman on 05/23/11 at 20:55:31 Death toll has'nt changed yet but they said it WILL go up. 17 survivors found so far. 2 police officers doing search and rescue were struck by lightening this evening. 5-10 inchs of rain in the last 12 hours in that area. Thunderstorm after thunderstorm right over joplin. Their saying their probably going to raise the risk from moderate to high for the joplin area tomorrow as well for more tornadoes. Second dealiest tornado in US history is what they said. Still calling it probably an EF4 but might upgrade to an EF5. Be only the second one in recorded MO history. Weather is hampering search n rescue and causeing a real worry about survivors and hypothermia. Temps been running around 60 degrees. Hypothermia can set in at 72 degrees. Still dealing with gas leaks, fires, weather and calling for blood donors. Literaly looks like someone nuked the place.

Title: Re: Lousy Weather Post by 12Bravo on 05/24/11 at 04:28:20 We had strong winds and hail but luckily no tornadoes in my area. Last night's storms stayed south of me.

Title: Re: Lousy Weather Post by Wolfman on 05/24/11 at 13:45:03 Well they bumped the risk level to moderate for most of our area so keep your head down and eye on the weather tonight 12B. Joplins in the high risk area. Someone in SW MO is going to catch he!! again tonight. Im hopeing it all pretty well blows itself out in KS and OK before it gets here. Ive had more then enough for this spring. Their doing dog searchs in Joplin now, trying to get into the walmart and home depot stores. Massive slabs of concrete at the home depot. I remembr someone say they thought there were around 200 people in one of those stores when the twister hit. Then you got about 2000 more collapsed homes and buisnesses to dig through. Its still looking grim. And tonights supposed to be as bad or WORSE then sunday was. All this rain isnt helping the record flooding down around tablerock and taneycomo either. The flood waters had'nt went down yet and they got all 10 gates open at tablerock and the gates at the other d@ms as well. Lot of people lost or loseing everything down there as well. At least no massive loss of life due to the flooding...so far.

Title: Re: Lousy Weather Post by 12Bravo on 05/24/11 at 15:33:24 Just had a small but strong storm roll through here. I rode to Hermann today and the Missouri river and all the creeks were either at top of their banks or overflowing them. I hope we don't get anymore bad storms like the other night.

Title: Re: Lousy Weather Post by Southpaw on 05/24/11 at 19:39:59 Terrible ordeal they're going through in Joplin! The devastation around the hospital is unreal! There's a local group collecting supplies to take with them when they go down Friday. Someone told me this morning they've had a lot of fire and rescue teams from across the state brought in to go through as much area as possible in the critical first 72 hrs. Amazing!!!! Bravo, I passed through your neck of the woods on the way to Mark Twain Lake Sunday night just in front of that funnel cloud. Did you all get a lot of hail damage up there or did it stay south? We came back through Hermann today about 2PM. Did you have the Savage or the Bergman?

Title: Re: Lousy Weather Post by Wolfman on 05/24/11 at 23:33:54 S&R teams from several states like texas, KS, OK and i forget where else as well as from all over the state. Got some in from the east and west coast today as well i heard. Two tornado warnings for joplin as well as straight line wind warning(60-70mph) so far tonight. They were worried about all the debris flying around. One tornado went just north of joplin. Upgraded to an EF5 today, which i figured they would eventualy do with the type of damage. They call em the Hand of God as they scour the earth clean. Been through an EF 3 up close n personal, want NOTHING to do with an EF5. Supposedly only the first or second MO has ever seen. Death toll was 128 with 1150 injured(they think many of the minor injured have treated themselves with the medical facilities being overwhealmed) and 1500 missing. On that note they put up a perimiter to keep the news crews and cameras away from the walmart and home depot today as they started 'Recovery' work. They wont comment on any possible numbers they expect to find there. Word is both places were pretty busy when the twister hit. Daughters work friend said walmart had a couple hundred people in it. His ex-wife and daughter were near an exit i guess as they got out. They DO expect the death toll to keep climbing. The one officer struck by lightening yesterday is in springfield in critical condition. Supposedly he was the first KC officer to volunteer for rescue work after joplin got slammed. And to top it all off we're under a tornado watch through tomorrow with 2-3 more inchs or rain called for in the area. And the flooding continues. SW MO cant seem to catch a break lately. We just went through ANOTHER severe T-Storm here and more comeing in an hour or so. 12B, SP, you guys are supposed to be under the gun tomorrow from about noon on. These storms are pi$$ing stuff out left n right. Keep an eye on the weather. A Sharp eye.

Title: Re: Lousy Weather Post by WD on 05/25/11 at 03:52:43 The system that is swirling over Kansas and Oklahoma right now is supposed to be here tonight. Hundreds of people still in shelters from the flooding. I've been up since 0500 getting heavy equipment ready if needed. Heading to the farmers co-op around 0700, picking up extra work gloves, saw chains and fuel. Too many "citiots" (city idiots) have moved outr here with absolutely no idea what mother nature is capable of in the mid-south. The 1840 house has survived many a twister, including one that went right through the backyard, taking trees, poolhouse and draining the pool. The development down the road has sustained real damage from puny little down drafts. I don't wish this spring on anybody.

Title: Re: Lousy Weather Post by 12Bravo on 05/25/11 at 05:16:29 We got a little bit of hail but didn't last long. I was on the Savage yesterday.

Title: Re: Lousy Weather Post by babyhog on 05/25/11 at 05:50:05 Wolfman, thank you so much for continuing to post.  It lets us know you are ok, and also I appreciate the information.  I thought about the Walmart and Home Depot, and the fact that they were probably very crowded places.  Have seen some aerial photos of both, but couldn't tell if the roof stayed on anywhere.  Saw a guy on the news last night, talking about how he huddled in his bathtub, clinging to the fawcet because the wind was pulling his feet up and out through the roof.  Something fell on him and helped hold him down.  He was safe and un-injured.  But individual stories makes me think of the horror that so many went through and weren't so lucky. Hang in there and stay safe!

Title: Re: Lousy Weather Post by Wolfman on 05/25/11 at 12:41:49 12b, you up around ft wood? Their catching it right now with a T-Warning, radar rotation. T-Storm warnings all over the place right now and only going to get worse for the eastrn part this evening. BBH, im an information sponge. Just passing it along for those interested as well. Been MO born n raised for 50 years right here and this has got to be one of the worst springs ive seen. Average tornadoes for this time frame so far is 500. This year we have had over 1200. Average number of killer tornadoes is 22 for the same time frame. We've had i think they said 55. Had a couple more yesterday in oklahoma and at least one in arkansas early this morning. Had a T-warning for joplin last night, rotation on radar just north of joplin. That and the straight line wind warning had em all jittery again. Would of been a LOT of missles in 60-70mph winds. Seen one pic of a brick through the side of a car door, another of a metal chair with about 6 inchs of its legs imbeded in a concrete wall. Then there was the pickup just literaly folded around a tree trunk about 20 feet off the ground. Lot of reports of folks being sucked out of cars let alone buildings. The four schools and 4 other buildings are going to cost over 1 billion to replace by themselves. Their looking into rebuilding, renovateing the St Johns building. If you didnt have a reinforced concrete or brick building in the path you got nothing but junk left. Even some of the concrete and brick buildings(lot of them) didnt make it. Lot of pics and some video on http://www.ky3.com (local news) Think we got reporters from every news agency in the country it seems like at Joplin The wrecker services are going to make a killing off all the vehicles. Most will see the crusher with very few even being good enough to salvage some parts. Their that tore up. Looks like all the cars on the south side were in a 200mph demolition derby. Honestly, knowing how many of those cars had people in them plus the looks of the path its surpriseing the death toll isnt already much higher. LOT of lucky people in Joplin. Havent seen a new death toll yet or heard anything else about walmart or home depot. Their being pretty closed mouthed about it while their searching. I wouldnt of wanted to be in either place when the roofs came in. Theres some real heart breaking stories comeing out to(as if they all arent). One, a father was pulled from the car by the twister as they drove home from his sons graduation. Hes in serious condition at the hospital. They havent found his son or the car yet. Lil 16 month old boy their looking for. His parents are in the hospital and dont know yet. His grandparents are looking for him. His clothes were found wrapped around a power pole. Guy was looking for his 9 months pregnant wife. House was collapsed and nothing but boards and splinters. Her truck was still parked in the driveway. Lot of folks looking at the walmart and home depot for loved ones who they either knew they were there or their vehicles are still in the parking lot. The school system is trying to do a head count on the students from the graduation and those who lived in the path. Dont know how good/bad thats going. Many would of still been on the road home or just getting home from the graduation. Weather has been a real problem on search n rescue so far. Their still calling it search n rescue but their talking like its more like recovery mode. They called it that for walmart and home depot yesterday so i dont think their holding out much hope there. Not sure what they think people will find but their asking folks who find debris to not touch it but call it in to the sherriffs department now. Probably for a lot of the hospital debris i guess. That stuff is everywhere. Looting dosent seem to be much of a problem as it has in so many other places. Course around here neighbors still look after neighbors and get caught looting you stand a GOOD chance of getting shot. Then the law called. On an up note theres a lot of folks who are with the red cross, local kitchen, local radio station(Joplin) ect that have lost everything even up to some loved ones that are putting in long hours to help everybody else. The local radio station there in joplin dropped its format and has been acting as an information center where folks can call in to try and find loved ones. Thousands of calls. And in some cases they have been able to help get people together or give loved ones some info. On a down note this stuff is rolling through here like sherman through georgia right now from about HWY65 east. 12bravo and southpaw better keep their heads dwon and eye on the weather. Rollas been catching it for the last hour or so Once this is through today we're supposed to have some decent weather for the next 3 or 4 days. Get to dry out some. Flooding, which has pretty much been off the news since sunday is still bad and getting worse. White river basin is just inundated with massive amounts of water. Storms have been freight training through down there between I44 down past the arkansas border dumping water. And most of what we get runs off down there as well. They still need prayers just like thefolks in joplin. Loss of life is minimal so far but property damage is massive as well.

Title: Re: Lousy Weather Post by Wolfman on 05/25/11 at 12:52:24 On a side note BBH, it sucks to feel so helpless to do anything. 15 years ago before i screwed my back up so bad id of had the quad and chainsaw loaded up and been down there to help a couple hours after it hit. Their 60 miles to the SW of me here. Id be as much a liability as help right now. Throw my back and ribs out and be another they would have to take care of. I am going to check with the county and see if they need anymore heavy equipment operators though. But it still sucks! Wifes work place, cintas uniforms, is loading up a semi with things like work gloves, boots ect for the rescue workers and victims. Going to load another up with jeans, jackets ect later on. Lot of those folks down there have lost literaly everything. Got only the clothes on their backs..if that. Red Cross has been asking for donations of cash for the victims. They have got a LOT of clotheing donations and getting a pretty fair amount of food. But they need cash above all else. Buddy said the knights of columbus is starting a national drive to try and raise money.(hes a member) If joplin comes back from this its going to be a long road. Its also or was, one of the big stops on Rt 66 going west. Lot of bikes pass through there.

Title: Re: Lousy Weather Post by 12Bravo on 05/25/11 at 16:14:37 I am halfway between Columbia and St Louis and halfway between Mark Twain Lake and Hermann. We had a couple of funnel clouds and 1 confirmed tornado this afternoon. Storm kind of split and went around me on both sides. I'm tired of all this bad weather.

Title: Re: Lousy Weather Post by Driller on 05/25/11 at 16:45:43 Here's hoping all of you stay safe. Swiss Meats....one good reason to visit Hermann. http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/8615/050rx.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/689/050rx.jpg/) Be careful out there!

Title: Re: Lousy Weather Post by kimchris1 on 05/25/11 at 22:25:51 Wolfman, thank you for all the reporting. It is hard for us to fathom what that area looks like as the TV only shows so much. To have someone to give us first hand information gives us an even clearer picture of how bad it is. The trees they show on tv where the bark was literally peeled off by the wind, that really amazed me. It is very sad that their was very little warning. It will take a long time for this area to come back, yet with perserverance it will. Stay safe as you continue to give us reports.. Hugs, :) kim

Title: Re: Lousy Weather Post by Wolfman on 05/26/11 at 02:00:13 As close as i live to joplin i havent been down to see it first hand. Just a whole lot of video and pics from the local stations and a few eye witness accounts. After seeing what an EF3 did through the middle of the farm in Jan of 08 i really dont want to see it. Really really dont want to see it. News has been bad enough. Dont want to get tied up with all the rescue vehicles, locals and rubber neckers(boatload of them). Law enforcement and locals have got enough to deal with with the traffic without me horning in to see it first hand. Later when things have calmed down some ill take a ride down. Most of the damage isnt going anywhere fast. Looting is still minimal. BUT.... they got two guys today that are real scumbags. Supposedly they came down monday and rented a storage unit. Then proceded to strip all the copper wire out of multiple homes that had been hit as well as a lot of scrap metal and stored it in the unit. They got em today when someone seen em loading up all the copper wire out of the unit to go sell it. They should of just shot em! Someone stole a bunch of pit bikes, helmets and all the guys tools at a bike shop that had survived monday night. Other then that i havent really heard of any. But disasters always bring out the vultures. Be a lot of scammers in joplin when folks start rebulding. Just like after our massive ice storms of 06 and 07. Didnt see many after the EF3 in jan of 08 but did down south after the record flooding that spring. Floodings worse this year in the same area. Mother nature sure seems to have a bone in her teeth over SW MO since about 06. The 16 month old boy they had been looking for and talking about on the news they found today. He was already in the morgue. Their being pretty hush mouthed about the walmart and home depot. Dont know if thats good or bad news. But i do know there supposed to still be some people in them. Death toll is still at 125, injured down to 750 and missing at 500. Numbers keep fluxuateing. Their HOPEING most of the missing just havent contacted loved ones and will show up???? They asked folks to call in anything they found in certain areas down track from jolin. Not to touch it or remove anything but to call the sherriffs office. They didnt come out and say it but i think they finaly figured out what ive been saying all along. Not all the bodies are still in joplin. 200+ mph winds and massive updrafts can and will move things. Their still in search n rescue. But its been rainy and cold for 3 days so chances are getting slim. And they havent found anyone since monday i think it was. It warms up in the 80s and low 90s in the next few days id say they will find some more bodies in some of the houses destroyed. 2000 houses and buisnesses destroyed, 8000 damaged. In a sense joplin did have a bit of luck. The highschool graduation was held elsewhere then the destroyed highschool. It happened on a sunday instead of during the middle of the week or at night. It didnt cut through the middle of town through the residental district. Early in the tourist season and it had been rainy and nasty for several days. Remember this IS a big route 66 stop and kind of a junction for KS, OK, AR and MO. Still a lot of debate about how much warning they had. Many say they never heard the sirens though they had supposedly been going off for 20 minutes. ST Johns will renovate or rebuild the hospital. Thats something like 2700 jobs. Got to keep in mind many of the survivors not only lost their homes, many lost loved ones and friends and many have lost their buisness or job as well. 400 with walmart, 200 with home depot and who knows how many with all the other buisnesses. Joplin got hammered in more then one way. Plus side they have over 5000 volunteers signed up online to help with the cleanup when things settle down.(Non-residents that is). Walmart pledged 1 million dollars Oh yeah. Some d@mn greedy senator in VA was more worried about the deficit going up 1.5 billion dollars then sending the money to joplin to help out. Theres stories that will make a grown man cry and some that shows the spirit of man. Total stranger saved and sheltered with his body a lil 6 month old baby that had got away from his mother during the storm in the walmart. Or the young husband that used his body to cover his wifes in the bathtub and took the brunt of the damage to save her. He didnt survive but she did. Was known as the Zinc capital of the world. Now it gets the dubious awards of 7th deadliest single tornado on record in the country. Second deadliest in MO. Deadliest since 1953 in the country and only the second EF5 on record here as well. Think they could of done without all of that. On an UP note Joplin(and me) can relax for a few days now with the weather takeing a change. You can feel the tension easeing a bit. People were getting REAL JUMPY. Todays storms showed it. Sedalia MO took a hit through a residential district but no lives lost that i heard last night. Arkansas and OK did lose a few though. Wild video of a twister running down the road takeing out a semi like tissue paper in OK. Driver escaped with only a broken arm and good story. Scared the cr@p out of his dad as he watched it on tv on the local news and recognised his sons truck. And the flooding continues down south of me worse then the record 08 flooding. Heard of several(5-6) drownings last night though. 4 weeks of back to back supercells have taken a toll on peoples property, lives and nerves around here. Turned my hair semi gray. :D

Title: Re: Lousy Weather Post by babyhog on 05/26/11 at 05:22:45 I have been watching as much as I can about it.  Mostly CNN.  I also saw the video you mention of the semi truck being ripped to bits.  I was shocked that the driver lived!  That was amazing footage.   My husband survived a small one in Ohio many years ago, their house was spared but it totally demolished the 2 on either side of them (probably 1/2 a mile to a mile away each way).  He was telling me about it roaring in, them standing by the window watching and listening, and his dad finally pushed them into the cellar.  Videos and pictures just don't do justice to the shear power a tornado has.  But I'll stick to videos, pictures and personal accounts, thank you.  I hope I never see one in person. And Wolfman, you can probably tell me faster than I can look it up -- I used to work for Owens Corning.  I know they have a location in Joplin, but I don't know exactly where its physically located.  Do you know it?  Or know if it was in the path of destruction?  Just curious.

Title: Re: Lousy Weather Post by WD on 05/26/11 at 12:13:53 Wolfman I hear you on going to the recovery crews. Bad back and shoulder, I'd likely be in the way as well. But, I'm an ex-SeaBee (combat heavy construction battalions), have had a fair amount of medical training (all obsolete by now but...), and feel like I really should be helping out. I should have gone down to Smithville MS when it was scrubbed from the map as well. There has to be a reason I'm unemployable. Think I'll hook up with the teams from here, have a truck club friend with the sherrif's department. I've got an old RV that can be refitted as a rescue rig. Memphis dodged it last night. That cell went just south of me and just north of the city proper. A few downed trees, a few lightning strikes, some heavy rain and hail. System broke up over Arkansas. Couple oak trees fell on houses in Bartlett (Memphis suburb), but no real damage. Storm season had best be on the way out the back door.

Title: Re: Lousy Weather Post by Wolfman on 05/26/11 at 13:03:38 BBH, it looks like on the map owens corning was over on the north side so doubt they got any damage. Monster went through the south end of town. Course it shows a Teed Corporation there now?? Yeah you know their powerfull but you dont relise just HOW powerfull untill you've been through one. They can be kind of erie to. Lot of times you got some wind then everything goes dead quiet and calm. Then like someone flips a switch the wind jumps to 80, 100, 150mph and chit starts flying. Night time twisters are the worst, you cant see em comeing. You just hear em...if your lucky. Rain shrouded arent any fun either. You always see these nice pics n videos across the plains of a funnel cloud twisting and tearing things up. Those are flatland twisters in KS and OK where you can see for miles. Around here by the time you can see one their d@mned close. One minute your watching a cloudline and the next you got this evil monster popping over a ridgeline a 1/2 mile or a mile from you. Ive lived here all my life and tornadoes are just a fact of life. Not a fun one but a fact of life you 'kinda' get used to liveing with. Ive watched em in the distance from a hayfield and watched em start to form overhead several times. Best i can liken the sound to, especialy after being within 300 feet of ground zero on an EF3 back in 08(to $%^#&^@#!%$#^ close) is sticking your head in the arse end of an F15 engine. All you hear is wind and the debris smacking into stuff. Very heavy rain(it aint always raining either) blowing sideways. Usualy a burst of hail before(if you got hail you best be watching the sky n radar) out of a green sky. The sound of the wind is like the banshees of he!! have come to carry you off. You can feel the vibrations in the air and even the ground like a distant rumble. I always figured this is where many get the freight train. Bad enough rideing it out in a house, try it sometime in a car with the d@mn thing bounceing you and trying to pick you up and drag you into it. Describeing the sound just dosent do it justice. Youll not forget the site either. And the aftermath is something else. Huge trees snapped off, buildings flattened or just gone! And what a lot of people dont relise or think about is its not the twister itself to be afraid of, its the debris. Yeah you might get picked up and tossed or you might get a roof dropped on your head. But the main danger is the debris itself. Its flying missiles. 2/4s, chairs, glass, anything it can pick up and toss at 100, 150, 200mph. Thats what does the most damage to people. If it will stick a metal chair in a concrete wall or a shingle into a stucco wall, a brick through a car door or even a pieace of straw through a 10 inch ok, think what it would do to you. Which reminds me of something Kim mentioned last night. Those trees with the bark stripped. Yeah the wind will peel the bark a lil bit. But a huge part of it is the debris hitting the trees and eatting the bark off like a huge sand blaster. Think of how the rain feels on your skin at 70mph on the bike. Now imagine doing 150 and being behind a truck loseing tiny bits of sand, rock, bits of glass, shingles, splinters, chuncks of plywood and 2/4s. Or flying cars n trucks. You would think the trees would feel rough. But like the one newsman said the other night its like someone took some 600 grit sandpaper and sanded on it for a couple of days. Smooth. Thats why impalements are usualy so prominant in the injuries. Also why you see the victims with all the lil cuts all over their arms n faces. Chit flys at 150mph and when it hits it HURTS! Course getting picked up and tossed like a ragdoll for 200 feet or haveing a roof dropped on your head aint no good either. The power. Youve seen people take half a day with a d9 cat bulldozer to take down a building. Couple hours anyway. Ive seen em take a house, fairly new well built house, down to the concrete slab in less then 2 seconds. You see the house, it disappears into the funnel, 2 seconds later all that comes out as the funnel passes is the concrete slab. Big round bales. It picks em up and spits em out like they weigh nothing or unrolls em across the field. Nice concrete block milk barn, good n solid. Disappears for 2 seconds and what comes out is scattered n broken blocks with maybe 4 or 5 still together in one corner. But they do some STRANGE things to! Take a house and scatter everything. You find the frig 1/4 mile away half buried in the ground. Dig it out and find your dozen eggs still in it uncracked. Pick a baby or a person up and leave em alive in a tree basicly unharmed. Tears a house to splinters but picks the home owner up and sets em down in their neighbors yard. Takes one house and barely touchs the shingles on the one 30 feet away. Or hops n skips like a kid playing hop scotch. Or like in joplin it hugs the ground and scours it clean. Sometimes their moveing along at a pretty good clip then they come to a house or building and seem to pause and just stop for a few seconds, like they want to make sure and pick up every lil bit of wood, nails n glass before moveing on. Its like their pure evil. Strike terror into the bravest of men. Partly cause there aint a d@mn thing you can do about them except cower in a hole or closet like some scared lil animal. If you dont they will kill you. And dont count on hearing the sirens unless they start em well before it gets there. The wind howls so bad you cant hear em. Learn to watch n read the radar on TV. Watch for the classic hook and debris ball. And afterward youll hear those sirens every night for the next 3 or 4 days. But when you go to check at the door its calm and a clear starry sky. PTSD is a major problem to. Lot of people suffer nightmare for days, weeks, months afterward. Thats a problem so many in joplin are dealing with right now to that hasnt been talked about much. Live through one and it changes you. Jittery, jumpy, spooked,...He11 Yeah!! WD, i cant remember the addy but theres a site online where you can register to help with the cleanup. Its going to be a LOONNGG process when it starts. Literaly a third of the town of 50,000 is pretty much gone. 2000 buildings trashed and 8000 damaged to some degree. Your local red cross might be able to help you. Sherrifs depart probably can to. Id say heavy equipment operators will be welcome if they have enough equipment to go around.

Title: Re: Lousy Weather Post by Wolfman on 05/26/11 at 21:24:01 As for how it looks ive seen pics of both and joplin looks like it got nuked. A nice clean modern city had a third of it wiped off the face of the earth. Death toll went up to 126 today with more expected. D@mn numbers keep bounceing up and down from 500 to 1500 for the missing. List is all fouled up and confuseing the rescue workers. Lot of rubbernecks showing up as well agravateing some of the locals trying to find a lil bit of their former lives.   LOT of volunteers showing up and just pitching in. Although one of the officials said in the paper today the volunteers need to stay home untill needed???? One gent with a truck and trailer was told to go find a bus instead by an official. He walked away and just went and pitched in. Told a reporter later the red tape is fine for the govt but its getting in the way of rescue and cleanup. Their permits for access were causeing a lot of hard feelings for residents trying to get in as well. You needed an address and photo I.D. to prove who you were and you lived there. Many of the folks dont have their checkbooks, credit cards, drivers license or any form of I.D. Or money. Was the same when told they needed to go to certain areas for assitance or to sign up. They said 'In what? Got no car anymore.' They did away with the permit system when they ran out of permits and just started allowing everybody in. On that note thats another item starting to cause problems. Their wanting to haul the cars off and crush them to make room. Many residents are trying to find their cars so they can retreive personal items and possibly get their insurance company to pay for it. Its said a lot of them wont get anything or the value of their car??? Joplin also said their not going to tow the cars off right now...for now. National Guard is in charge of law enforcement now. Still no word on the walmart or home depot or how many if any bodies found. And of course new stories of survival come out every day. Of people and animals alike. Still calling it search n rescue but i think their about to go to recovery as no survivors have been found since monday. <mischief managed... v1>

Title: Re: Lousy Weather Post by Wolfman on 05/27/11 at 01:30:34 Thanks who ever ya be...lol Death toll is 126, over 900 injured(remember they thought a LOT of the minorly injured just treated themselves) and the missing list is down to 232 missing. "Officials said previously they believe people who are "unaccounted for" aren't necessarily dead or trapped in debris.  They say many are probably safe and but failed to tell friends and family where they are.  Cell phone service in Joplin remains spotty. Spillars said officials know some of the missing are dead, but she wouldn't say how many.  She also would not say when a list of names of the deceased people would be released" List Link. http://www.ky3.com/news/kspr-joplin-mo-tornado-list-of-missing-and-unaccounted-for-people-20110526,0,359364.htmlstory A memorial and prayer service is planned for 2 on Sunday at an auditorium on the Missouri Southern campus. Something else a lot of people may not of thought about and has'nt been reported on much is the loss of pets. They have something on the order of 300 dogs missing their masters still. No mention of cats or anything else. http://www.ky3.com/news/ky3-pets-joplin-tornado-emergency-animal-shelter-20110526,0,2833038.story Bit about the various volunteers from around the country. http://www.ky3.com/news/ky3-pets-joplin-tornado-emergency-animal-shelter-20110526,0,2833038.story Just heard on the news that ignorant bunch of yahoos that call themselves a church is going to be in joplin this week. Instead of protesting a soliders funeral their going to protest that joplin was punished by god because of the war, gays ect. The normal cl@ptrap they spout. Also MO is being punished because god hates mo. Them folks are going to the wrong town at the wrong time in the wrong state. I dont think theres enough law and national guard there to protect them. After what those folks have been through, that church group shows up anywhere down there their going to WISH all they had to worry about is slashed tires. I hope someones bright enough to stop em before they get into town. Lot of loose 2/4s with nails to be broke over heads. Freedom of speech aint going to cover it. Talk about suicide by stupidity. Theres a LOT of ex military, active military, volunteers and of course the locals who have lost everything includeing loved ones. And i know of several biker groups that will probably be there. NOT GOOD for the church group! Supposed to have a page about god hates mo on their web site. No idea what the web addy is and really dont care.

Title: Re: Lousy Weather Post by WD on 05/27/11 at 06:37:28 So I should bring my blackpowder 12 gauge. Civil War survivor, was carried by President Davis' personal military courier.  ;) I'll try and find the volunteer site online. I do have a backhoe/front end loader combo, can always borrow a trailer. Will head out later today to see about rewiring my fullsize truck.

Title: Re: Lousy Weather Post by babyhog on 05/27/11 at 06:46:11 That's alot of interesting information. Thanks again man. As far as OC, I believe the location there was a roofing/shingles plant (I handled corporate accounting and composites locations) so I'm guessing they sold it to CertainTeed Corp. I left there in 2004 after 11 years with them.  Haven't kept up much with them but still remembered the plant there.  So thanks again.

Title: Re: Lousy Weather Post by Wolfman on 05/27/11 at 14:03:55 WD, i seriously hope someone is smart enough to keep em out of joplin. Their walking into a town thats scared,scarred, stressed, tired, comeing down off the adrenalin rush of terror and survival. A town thats losts 132 babies, children, teens wives n husbands. Full of volunteers that have literaly showed up from all over the country to help. As stupid as that bunch is i cant beleive their that stupid. There wont be no 'safe spot' across the street for them like at the funerals they have terrorised. Their walking into a lions den of really bad tempered lions. BBH, its been kind of information overload here with so much to go through. Ive just been trying to pass along the more important stuff. Lot of redundancy in the reports agency to agency and day to day. A lot of survivors are getting fed up with the red tape and govt...lets say meddleing. Especialy when it comes to them being able to identifying their dead. Their not letting the families that know they have lost someone or those looking for missing family members into the secret morgue. When asked why not last night the Missouri Department of Public Safety deputy director Andrea Spillars gave the reporter some of the best govt double speak saying nothing. Basicly she said they have to positively identify the dead by DNA, fingerprints dental records ect BEFORE they can let a family member identify them????????? Being as most wont have a fingerprint on file, dental records are blown into the next couple of counties, and i dont think their going to be able to get a dna sample from a hairbrush at home, its going to be hard. Id think letting a family member would be able to positively identify most of them. The govt and its red tape is really starting to gum up the works and work on peoples nerves. Causeing even more problems. Word is they have only had bout 5 people caught looting so far, its been minimal. But they got some woman last night thats come off the bottom of the barrel. Had been walking around sifting through stuff acting like she was helping or belonged there carrying a duffel bag. Someone noticed she had been in several places sifting through debris for 'her stuff' where she didnt belong. When checked they found jewlry stuffed in the duffel bag. Gold, silver, coins and not sure what else besides a laptop computer. All had debris stuck to them. She had been robbing peoples homes acting as if they were hers or families from what i heard on the news. Death toll went to 132 with the list of missing dropping to 156. "# 90 persons reported located # 6 persons confirmed deceased by the federal Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team (DMORT) and next of kin notified. # 22 additional missing persons reports filed # 2 persons confirmed as duplicates" Mayor ordered flags in joplin flown at half mast. "Gov Nixon  declared Sunday as an official State Day of Prayer and Remembrance.  U.S. and Missouri flags will fly at half-staff at all government buildings in Missouri on Sunday." "JOPLIN, Mo. -- The National Weather Service provided additional insight into the decision to rate the tornado last Sunday at the top of the Enhanced Fujita Scale.  The tornado was given an initial rating of an EF-4 before it was upgraded the next day. Bill Davis with the National Weather Service said investigators look at structural damage and how far heavy objects were thrown.  This tornado, for example, tossed concrete parking lot "bumpers" that sit low to the ground and can weigh up to 300 pounds. The NWS investigators also noted that tractor-trailers parked near the Wal-Mart store were thrown farther than 1/8th mile.  Manhole covers were also lifted and tossed. The tornado's path is an estimated six miles long. It's from three-quarters of a mile to a mile wide at some points. The winds are estimated to have briefly hit between 225 and 250mph." The head of the springfield NOAA likened it to the eyewall of a major hurricane comeing ashore. A VERY powerfull EF5 like the monster in texas years ago. Before and after pics of Joplin from street level. Use the slider and you have to have version 10 or higher of the Adobe Flash Player. http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2011/05/26/136683899/before-and-after-street-views-in-joplin Rain here again today. Buy a weather radio people and make up a disaster kit and keep an eye on the sky. :(

Title: Re: Lousy Weather Post by kimchris1 on 05/27/11 at 14:46:34 Wolfman, last night news showed a couple, she was a hair stylist. Her shop ruined and yet her hubby was already amongst the ruins, building her a new shop. He expects it to be completed in 45 days. What a way to show that thru all this turmoil, their going to come back. OH yeah another stylist was letting this gal work in her shop for the time being. For her at least things are looking up. I do hope that other people are able to get thru all the red tape and, get back towards getting their lives back. I remember growing up in Fla we would get Hurricane warnings. Dark skies etc.. You learned by the way the sky darkened and such that it would become nasty. I definetly would have a weather radio and supplies if I lived there. Yet even here we need to have supplies in case of disasters. Just even more so there as it is the path these awful storms take. Stay safe and will keep everyone in my prayers.  kim

Title: Re: Lousy Weather Post by Wolfman on 05/27/11 at 15:31:26 Ive seen a couple of bits of video on the news where folks were already rebuilding houses in the middle of the debris field. Folks are pretty resiliant around these parts. Got to be liveing in the middle of tornado alley. So far only 19 of the dead have been identified and their loved ones contacted. Its now thought many of the missing may already be in the morgue. Their really makeing it rough on those looking for loved one with the 'identification policy.' A big thunderstorm rolled thorugh right over joplin again with lots of lightening, hail and heavy rain. With the tallest things being treestumps people had to scatter. The streets looked like rivers. People are still real jumpy there. So much for our 4 or 5 days of good weather they forecast. And of course those dealing with the flooding down south in the white river basin dont need anymore rain.

Title: Re: Lousy Weather Post by Wolfman on 05/29/11 at 00:08:25 Death Toll went to 142 today. Then they dropped it back down to 139 with no reason given. Missing for now stands at 100 with around 900 injured. Supposedly part of the reason their doing dna testing is some of the bodies are'nt whole bodies. Apparantly torn apart. Memorial service scheduled tomorrow with Obama comeing in to say a few words and tour the damage. They were supposed to drive the whole 7 mile track on the news tonight but i missed it. Saw enough from the preview it dont matter, same devestation for 7 miles. Just wiped clean. Havent heard anymore on the jonesborro bunch thats supposed to show up...yet.

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