Tornados

[GTRS Fiero]

Praying for all those affected by the tornados in Florida and Alabama.  I hope none of you or your families were affected.

Tornados, not my favorite, but not as terrifying as earthquakes.  If you ever want to see some serious force, look at the pieces of straw driven into solid wood by a tornado.

[Fierofool]

On some of the local news stations, they were showing timbers sticking out of brick buildings and holes in brick buildings where timbers had penetrated.  I haven't heard what the EF strength was but one of the 2 story brick buildings shown had lots of 2x4's in it and holes in it.  Some of the holes were round and looked about the size of a softball, possibly where a 2x4 had penetrated straight through. 

One of our Sunday School class members was visiting her daughter in Adele when the tornado hit.  She said it totally wiped out a mobile home park about 5 minutes from them, but they were unhurt.  There are a few former forum members down that way like oldbikeracer but most haven't been here in at least a year.  Don't know how they fared. 

[GTRS Fiero]

Timbers are far more substantial than straw.  Still, I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end.

[Raydar]

I talked with one of our guys from Albany, today. He said it's really a mess.
Told of one place that had about 20 yards of split rail fence removed, the front porch railing removed, the shingles on the front of the house removed, but the house was otherwise left undamaged. Across the road, a a 20 yard wide swath of a pine grove was leveled.
And that was mild compared to some of the other stuff. According to the radio, there are still a bunch of people missing. The documented fatalities in GA are in the mid teens, last I heard.

We just think we've got a grip on "the elements".

[Fierofool]

I think I saw that pine grove on the news tonight.  There was a long open field bordered by pines.  A wide swath running along the edge of the field or pasture was mowed down, but the rest were still standing.  I also saw an aerial shot of the mobile home park that was hit, and there wasn't a single mobile home remaining.  Looked like maybe 25 or 30 homes.  Nothing but debris.  That was in Adele.  I assume it was the one my classmate spoke of. 

[GTRS Fiero]

The perspective from the air is certainly different from on the ground.  Years ago, a man told me that his house took off in the tornado, but flying above it, I could see thathis house exploded.  He closed the doors and windows, and the pressure difference made the house effectively explode.  The tornado never hit his house.

I've seen a tornado take one side of a street, and leave the other alone.  This past fall, we were where a church used to be.  In Quincy, IL area, there are silos that were damaged, but nothing around.  Growing up, there was a man whose house was destroyed, and he was lifted from his bed frame on his mattress, then taken several miles, and set down gently on the levee, right nexttothe Mississippi River.  Tornados followed Y for 4 miles, then turned down 160 and destroyed several trailer parks.