What a Devastating Storm

[street]

What a deadly tornado that went the heartland last night. My prayers to all involved and wish all the best.

[pacergal]

Agree.

[easysurfer]

Morning news program said might be the longest USA storm trail in recorded history.

[Souschef]

My copilot lives about 40 miles from Nashville. I sent him an e-mail and am waiting for a response.
Prayers for everyone

[ExFlyBoy5]

It was heartbreaking to watch it unfold last night on The Weather Channel (who kept breaking for commercials?!?). While watching the radar and how pronounced the whole thing was, I kept thinking, "it's gotta wrap up soon...come on!" yet it didn't.

We live smack dab in the middle of tornado country so are sort of use to those events and paying very close attention when it happens. We just *barely* missed the last EF-5 that hit Moore, OK in 2013 (were on the way to the OKC airport after a wedding) and that was enough to convince us to have a shelter installed as soon as we bought our house; it was a non-negotiable kind of purchase.

The very unfortunate thing is that many of those that live in those communities don't have the means to spend several thousand dollars on a safe shelter and that can have deadly consequences. Not only that, I have a friend that lives a little south of the track (Cadiz, KY) and they tried have a shelter installed a few years ago, but it was very hard to find anyone to do it. They had to have one shipped in and installed it themselves. It's all made worse when it happens at night with no ability to see what's coming ...it's just a very bad deal all around.

[pb4uski]

We were camping at Graceland. At 12:06 pm we got a tornado alert on our phones and promptly sought shelter in the nearby restrooms/laundry building that was concrete block construction. We were soon joined by 5 other campers and 3 dogs.

We turned on the TV and watched the coverage. About 40 minutes later things were starting to clear so we went back to our campers. Rained like hell after that.

[street]

Glad you are fine!
Pictures I seen today are unreal of the aftermath.

[GrayHare]

I suspect had this event transpired during daylight hours, even if more people were out and about, they would have become aware of the need to seek shelter. As to weather alerts via phone, everyone I know either has turned them off or ignores them due to the preponderance of false alarms, which is tragic.

[Teacher Terry]

When I lived in Wichita, Kansas which is in tornado alley we made sure to buy a house with a basement. My husband and I were sleeping through them so bought a weather radio to wake us up. We had the house built and put the kids bedrooms down there as well as a family room and bathroom. Driving around after one we noticed that often the only thing left was the toilet in the basement. We would all go sit on the floor next to it. They are scary.

[Bamaman]

I have been involved in building a couple of homes after a devastating tornado. Our church built the homes and just gave them away to people without any financial resources. We're like an in house construction company--with great volunteer craftsmen.

10 years later, the area still looks terrible--with no trees. There's just a house here and a house there--with just a few homes rebuilt. No one is maintaining the properties that were never rebuilt with grass growing head high. And you cannot go in there with a tractor and cut the grass because of all the metal and trash still in the grass.

Unfortunately, many cities don't realize how important immediate planning is after such a tornado. Cities often need to take possession of the bare land and place newly reconstructed homes in blocks/neighborhoods.

In the case of Mayfield, they're talking 1,000 homes destroyed. It's going to be a long term proposition. You're going to see volunteers moving in in campers to help. And expect the Amish from Indiana, Ohio and Michigan to commute there for up to a year rebuilding homes. Mayfield will receive so many donations that they won't have any place to keep the stuff--and they may have to ask for $ instead of "stuff".

Without great leadership and planning, the towns never get back to where they once were. And in many cases, changes were warranted anyway.

[Mr._Graybeard]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bamaman I have been involved in building a couple of homes after a devastating tornado. Our church built the homes and just gave them away to people without any financial resources. We're like an in house construction company--with great volunteer craftsmen. 10 years later, the area still looks terrible--with no trees. There's just a house here and a house there--with just a few homes rebuilt. No one is maintaining the properties that were never rebuilt with grass growing head high. And you cannot go in there with a tractor and cut the grass because of all the metal and trash still in the grass. Unfortunately, many cities don't realize how important immediate planning is after such a tornado. Cities often need to take possession of the bare land and place newly reconstructed homes in blocks/neighborhoods. In the case of Mayfield, they're talking 1,000 homes destroyed. It's going to be a long term proposition. You're going to see volunteers moving in in campers to help. And expect the Amish from Indiana, Ohio and Michigan to commute there for up to a year rebuilding homes. Mayfield will receive so many donations that they won't have any place to keep the stuff--and they may have to ask for $ instead of "stuff". Without great leadership and planning, the towns never get back to where they once were. And in many cases, changes were warranted anyway.

Great observation, Bamaman.

[Pellice]

There is a severe threat today, December 15, even further north.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weath...innesota-iowa/

[Koolau]

I had a near-miss during the April super-outbreak of 1974. Very frightening. My heart goes out to those most recently affected.

[street]

I can't imagine going through destruction like that whether it is from any natural event. Absolutely devasting to life. My heart hurts for those people.