In Texas, lives were lost, people were injured, property destroyed, and electricity supply cut.
As if that were not enough, now Kansas is feeling the 'heat'. Here's the latest on tornadoes in Kansas:
[ Saturday, May 5, 2007, 7:36 AM PDT
GREEENSBURG, Kan. (AP) A state official says the number of tornado fatalities has risen to at least seven. ]
The forces of Nature like this are nothing to joke around with. I've witnessed a tree with a trunk diameter of about 4 feet being uprooted and thrown down like a rag in a breeze!
DO YOU FEAR A TORNADO HIT AROUND YOUR AREA?
EVER BEEN IN A TORNADO ZONE BEFORE?
WHAT WAS YOUR TORNADO EXPERIENCE LIKE?
Bronx posted on May 05, 2007
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Comments
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sweet_cookie01 said on May 05, 2007....
nope... not yet...though ive seen small whirlwinds in the golf course...its very rare in our country... yes i fear it, ived watched a countless times the horror they cause in national geographic. Very scary indeed! -
Zayda said on May 05, 2007....
Yes, I've seen several live from when I used to live in Texas. Many times, I've spent an hour or a few hours hunkered down in a basement or a tornado shelter.
We've been fortunate and not seen one where we currently live, but we still live in "Tornado Alley".
In reference to the news article about Greensburg, Kansas. The news is reported that the tornado destroyed 90% of Greensburg.The National Weather Service described the tornado as a "wedge," a very wide, tall twister, and said it had received reports that the tornado was at least three quarters of a mile wide, The Associated Press reported.There is basically nothing left of the town, most of the buildings were flattened. And they evacuated the entire town. They aren't letting residents back in the town until they can determine it is safe to do so. -
MissMimi said on May 05, 2007....
No, thank God. I've lived in Ohio all my life, and tornadoes have touched down close by, but I've never seen one. Thunderstorms still scare me, and there have been a few sleepless nights when a tornado watch is issued for the overnight hours. -
Bronx said on May 05, 2007....
sweet: yes, it can be very scary watching it happen - live or on TV! -
Bronx said on May 05, 2007....
Zayda: hi.
Just got the link now.
It's very heart rending to see the whole of a downtown area wrecked!
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beyondtheveil said on May 05, 2007....
bronx- If you mean by "witnessed" did I see them, then no. I was in one as a child, but we were in my aunt's underground storm shelter in Amarillo, TX.I was in another when I first moved to St. Louis, MO. It was a giant, but was at night and just missed me at a motel. I went outside when it went by (stupid,but I was young) and I can tell you it was darned windy and loud. -
Eilan said on May 05, 2007....
I went through an area about 30 minutes after a tornado had hit (near a rest area off a US highway). It was a small tornado, but it caused a lot of damage.
I live in southern Ohio, where it's hilly and we don't tend to get a lot of tornadoes, so it was an interesting sight. I'm not sorry I missed seeing it happen, though.
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LadyGamer said on May 05, 2007....
The F5 of '91
I stood at my apartment and watched as it destroyed the air force base across the street. I grew up in Kansas and that was not my first tornado. It was BY FAR the most destructive. And the closest. We got lucky. It jumped after destroying McConnell AFB. That twister would have leveled my apartment complex easily. And in a heartbeat.
I saw some ordinary people doing amazing things that day.
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Bronx said on May 05, 2007....
MissMimi: you're lucky - but still, those thunderstorms can really be hair raising sometimes! -
gingersoul said on May 05, 2007....
Bronx......i live in Texas.....am i lucky or what? ...lol..
Just last Wednesday we had 5 tornado warnings around my area. Power went off in my complex for one hour....wind reached 98mph, the trees in front of my building bent to reach the ground......it has been really scary..plus an electric storm right on top of my roof.....me and my dog were in the closet..no kidding...
Its tornado season here from April until the temperature stabilizes during the next 2 months....people lives with the fear of tornados......houses here have no basement so there is little to do if you are hit by one of them...
We knew that if something would have happened we could only go in the shower of our guest bathroom with a mattress on our head ...it was the only room at the center of our old home....and the closest experience i had with a tornado happened when we were still living there, 4 years ago.
My daughter was at school, that was at walking distance from our old home. It was one of the last week of school. I was at the comp and my ex husband was in garage. I heard a sound around 3 pm like something very heavy dropped in the attic. I thought nothing of it since my ex was always doing something up there...then i heard it again louder..i called him..and he was in the backyard. We thought about racoons or something..they were always jumping on the roof...Again i didnt give it much attention and after 5 minutes i went to pick up my daughter.
As soon as i turned the corner of the last home facing the school it seemed as i had been transported on the set of some action movie: debris, pieces of rocks, tree branches were everywhere, police and firefighters were sorrounding the building, visibly distressed parents were asking about the situation inside..the chaos... 8 houses around the school were damaged by the tornado that apparently had touched ground in front and behind the school..skipping completely the building...everybody was talking about a miracle, an oddity, sheer luck.......
They made us wait until they finsihed inspecting the inside of the school and then they finally released our kids. They were still crying, some were in shock..even the teachers were stressed out....my daughter said that the power went off and the teacher immediately told them to curl under their desk and then they made the kids gather in the keeva waiting .she said she heard the loud sound twice... and then silence......
A friend of mine got the roof of her house facing the schooland the fence completely divelted...other 7 homes reported damages to fences, windows, roofs, trees in the yard. 3 years ago a tornado destroyed downtown Fort Worth, 40 minutes from where i live. Its no funny living here in tornad season....no funny at all...
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mommyof2 said on May 05, 2007....
Yes, I was a child, on a farm and it rained chickens!!! -
silverwhisper said on May 06, 2007....
nope, i've never lived anyplace where that was a danger.
ed -
Bronx said on May 06, 2007....
beyond: you were quite lucky, you know. -
Bronx said on May 06, 2007....
Eilan: Haha...yes, you were lucky by 30 minutes or so!
I agree with you - the hills would protect against the wind by acting as natural stoppers or buffers.
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Bronx said on May 06, 2007....
LG: just across the street! You were lucky indeed!
I guess that gives a new meaning to the origin of the term 'twister' as it veered away afterwards.
I read once that its best to keep your facing/opposite doors and windows open in a tornado to avoid the building being crushed or blown away by the alternating low and high pressure zones within the spiraling vortex.
BTW, what kind of amazing things do you mean?
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Bronx said on May 06, 2007....
ginger: wow, those were some really lucky escapes.
Texas has such a big double whammy when it comes to tornadoes and the heat wave.
When bad weather brings such disasters, any helping hand in any form can come in very handy - a power company in Little Rock, Arkansas once gave both an apology and a discount on the next bill after the bad weather led to power loss for just about 10 minutes or so in the daytime!
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Bronx said on May 06, 2007....
mommyof2: haha.
We used to say 'it rained elephants and tigers' for those storms that brought deafening drumming on the roof or that hurt a bit each time you got pelted outside by the rain drops coming down.
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Bronx said on May 06, 2007....
SW: that's very lucky for you. -
CreativeWoman said on May 06, 2007....
I live in a part of the area of the Midwest known as Tornado Alley. I have have had to seek shelter several times. Fortunately my own personal experience only involves viewing the damage after they've been through. I go to the basement when a warning is issued.
CW
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Bronx said on May 06, 2007....
CW: hi.
Missouri sure is in the Tornado Alley, as well as Kansas and Illinois!
Yes, the basement is definitely the best place to be in a tornado, if it's available though.
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CreativeWoman said on May 06, 2007....
Bronx,
Once I was out shopping when a tornado warning was issued for the area. I had to spend several minutes in a storage room until the warning passed. It was one of those deals where it was beautiful and sunny when I went in and then...boom...a storm moved in. That was kind of scary.
CW
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Bronx said on May 06, 2007....
CW: yes, the amount of raw energy and power packed into a tornado event is simply unbelievable and very scary.
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