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Other Topics => Off Topic Discussion => Topic started by: Poogie on January 05, 2007, 02:32:58 PM



Title: Tornadoes and wind
Post by: Poogie on January 05, 2007, 02:32:58 PM
  I'm sitting here......hoping I stay sitting here because it is very windy, the whole house is vibrating. I live in California, they say we don't have tornadoes. I should mention we have had a couple, but no one wants to admit it. My house is all wood and very old. It has stood with no damage from earthquakes, hail storms, and soooo far, heavy winds. We keep our giant Pecan tree trimmed because if it decides to lay down in the right direction it will be joining us in bed, that would be another story for another time. I notice there are quit a few people from around the world on this site. Has anyone experienced a tornado?


Title: Re: Tornadoes and wind
Post by: raj on January 05, 2007, 04:34:09 PM
Can't say I've actually seen one, but I have seen the damage done afterwards.  Once was a house damaged about a block over from where my sister lived in Newport News VA., the other time was a couple of trees ripped up in my old hometown of Middletown, NY.  Neither of these places is known for hurricanes, but they will happen just about anywhere.


Title: Re: Tornadoes and wind
Post by: Andrew on January 05, 2007, 04:46:36 PM
Had one miss our camp by about 1/4 mile.  A number of Marines from the other battalion were injured by lightning and being struck on the head and shoulders by debris.  Most of us were trying to keep the big GP tents from blowing away.  The sudden microbursts were causing the center beams (which are 4X4s with metal reinforcement) to break.  Those are what caused most injuries.

I was attempting to hold one tent steady.  When the wind gust hit, I was tangled in the fabric and lines and tossed probably twenty yards.  Did not feel it that night, but the next day I knew my back had a problem.  It took some physical therapy to get all the muscles back to speed.

This happened at night, so we could not see the tornado at the time.  It was the last day of our training and we had just filled in all of the bunkers and fighting holes.  We were stuck 25 miles from the base, in the training area, when the storm warning came.  No way to evacuate the Marines to the base and hard structures in time (he had about 45 minutes), so we hunkered down.

We worked late into the night policing up gear and tending to the few injuries our unit had suffered.  Nothing serious, since we had donned flak vests and helmets when the storm was upon us.  If the other battalion had done the same, I imagine they would have suffered many less injuries.  We lost all communications during the storm.  Radio, phones (patchy anyway out there), and even the network and electrical grid went offline - probably due to the amazing amount of lighting we experienced.


Title: Re: Tornadoes and wind
Post by: Menard on January 05, 2007, 05:31:49 PM
Being brought up as an army brat and living in trailer parks makes for some fun (Not!) times.

I have never actually seen a funnel cloud, though I have awaken to the aftermath of a tornado. In one trailer park (I think I was about 9) we found our shed positioned nicely on top of the pickup truck (okay, it looked like a wadded up peice of aluminum foil, but the truck only lost an antenna). Interestingly enough, the contents of the shed were barely disturbed. Two trailers in the park were moved from their foundations, but only a few feet. The park manager got the worst of it as he was trying to secure a door outside and was effectively picked up by a wind gust and thrown into the side of a car (uh, the car was parked). This was all very non eventful compared to what could have happened with a funnel cloud having touched down that close to the park.

Another trailer park I lived in, not much more than a year later, got it much worse. This was in 1974 when a swath of tornadoes ripped through parts of Central and Southern Kentucky (one of the worst on record). Most of our damage was ancillary, but other trailers were flipped over, turned from front to back, and even smashed flat. A friend of mine, whom I would come to know later, was 1 year older than me and lived in Franfort at the time, which was one of the worst hit places. He and his mother, as there was no basement, took cover under a kitchen table when it hit. There was no roof and not much of walls left to their home when it was over.

Although there have been plenty of heavy storms and tornados here since, nothing, thank goodness, has equaled what happened in 1974; though we did get a pretty good beating around 1996.


Title: Re: Tornadoes and wind
Post by: Poogie on January 05, 2007, 06:02:28 PM
Being brought up as an army brat and living in trailer parks makes for some fun (Not!) times.

I have never actually seen a funnel cloud, though I have awaken to the aftermath of a tornado. In one trailer park (I think I was about 9) we found our shed positioned nicely on top of the pickup truck (okay, it looked like a wadded up peice of aluminum foil, but the truck only lost an antenna). Interestingly enough, the contents of the shed were barely disturbed. Two trailers in the park were moved from their foundations, but only a few feet. The park manager got the worst of it as he was trying to secure a door outside and was effectively picked up by a wind gust and thrown into the side of a car (uh, the car was parked). This was all very non eventful compared to what could have happened with a funnel cloud having touched down that close to the park.

Another trailer park I lived in, not much more than a year later, got it much worse. This was in 1974 when a swath of tornadoes ripped through parts of Central and Southern Kentucky (one of the worst on record). Most of our damage was ancillary, but other trailers were flipped over, turned from front to back, and even smashed flat. A friend of mine, whom I would come to know later, was 1 year older than me and lived in Franfort at the time, which was one of the worst hit places. He and his mother, as there was no basement, took cover under a kitchen table when it hit. There was no roof and not much of walls left to their home when it was over.

Although there have been plenty of heavy storms and tornados here since, nothing, thank goodness, has equaled what happened in 1974; though we did get a pretty good beating around 1996.
Hi....You have just proved the theory about tornadoes heading straight for trailer parks..love it..thank God everyone was and is okay...thanks.  :teddyr:


Title: Re: Tornadoes and wind
Post by: Poogie on January 05, 2007, 06:19:58 PM
Had one miss our camp by about 1/4 mile.  A number of Marines from the other battalion were injured by lightning and being struck on the head and shoulders by debris.  Most of us were trying to keep the big GP tents from blowing away.  The sudden microbursts were causing the center beams (which are 4X4s with metal reinforcement) to break.  Those are what caused most injuries.

I was attempting to hold one tent steady.  When the wind gust hit, I was tangled in the fabric and lines and tossed probably twenty yards.  Did not feel it that night, but the next day I knew my back had a problem.  It took some physical therapy to get all the muscles back to speed.

This happened at night, so we could not see the tornado at the time.  It was the last day of our training and we had just filled in all of the bunkers and fighting holes.  We were stuck 25 miles from the base, in the training area, when the storm warning came.  No way to evacuate the Marines to the base and hard structures in time (he had about 45 minutes), so we hunkered down.

We worked late into the night policing up gear and tending to the few injuries our unit had suffered.  Nothing serious, since we had donned flak vests and helmets when the storm was upon us.  If the other battalion had done the same, I imagine they would have suffered many less injuries.  We lost all communications during the storm.  Radio, phones (patchy anyway out there), and even the network and electrical grid went offline - probably due to the amazing amount of lighting we experienced.
I guess a vibrating house isn't so bad.


Title: Re: Tornadoes and wind
Post by: RCMerchant on January 05, 2007, 07:49:10 PM
We had one hit Kalamazoo back in the 70's. Me and my buddy Rick sat here in Lawton(Michigan),in the parking lot of the party store smoking pot.We snuck out of the gym .Lawtons about 20 miles from Kzoo,and Lawton sets in a valley,so we got some horrendous wind,but not a touchdown.I had my son dig me up the EXTRA edition of the Kalamazoo Gazzette,and the exact date was Tuesday, May 13,1980:5 dead,79 injured,"At least"$50 million in damage.1,200 forced from homes.
It was an experiance I won't ever forget. I seriously pray the best for your family.


Title: Re: Tornadoes and wind
Post by: Yaddo 42 on January 05, 2007, 08:23:00 PM
They are a regular threat during severe thunderstorms here in the south. The local TV news tracks them as they go through the area, mostly as they get near Huntsville, AL. It sucks that we are on the outer edge of their radar and viewing area, the radio stations do their job of warning people, but the tracking on TV is more helpful since they can break down arrival times by small communities.

Huntsville got hit in the 70s pretty bad (look up the old Night of the Killer Tornadoes documentary, or a similar title, one of several places that got hit in one horrible night in 1974, IIRC. That doc used to air on all the local stations when tornado "season" began each year, along with an old Civil Defense film for the Emergency Broadcast System. Huntsville got hit again in 1989 very badly.

Never been in one that touched down myself, had a funnel cloud pass near my house once in about 1994. We had a tree knocked over by straightline winds a few years later. I can remember taking shelter a few times, especially at school, squat and hide in a windowless hallway with a heavy textbook over your head.


Title: Re: Tornadoes and wind
Post by: dean on January 06, 2007, 12:41:54 AM

There was apparently a tiny one here recently [South of Australia] but we're not in Tornado or Cyclone/Hurricane zones.  The worst we have is searing heat, high winds and the occasional flash flood really.

We don't even get earthquakes [the occasional blip does happen though]

So weather-wise, we're pretty good in the natural disaster category, unless you count crippling drought.


Title: Re: Tornadoes and wind
Post by: raj on January 06, 2007, 03:23:03 PM
Poogie, are you still with us?  Or did you get sent to Oz?


Title: Re: Tornadoes and wind
Post by: Poogie on January 06, 2007, 08:54:28 PM
Poogie, are you still with us?  Or did you get sent to Oz?
  :bouncegiggle: Raj...Thanks for asking...The wind stopped about 2 hours after I wrote about the vibrating house. I did find some white and red stripped feet sticking out but the dog got them so we'll be just fine....tah..tah.


Title: Re: Tornadoes and wind
Post by: sideorderofninjas on January 06, 2007, 11:41:49 PM
In 1996, had a tornado go through the town where I lived about a month before Twister came out.  No flying cattle just a couple of businesses got some roof damge.