That part makes typhoons and hurricanes less scary. What I'm most scared of over here is earthquakes. I've never experienced that and I don't find much statistics on the Okinawa prefecture relating to that.
We were in the hallway most of the night again. The sirens went off about 5 different times, with 3 sightings of tornadoes. They were pretty long sounding too, which usually doesn't happen. Coming to school today I saw a lot of wind damage. Trees down, powerlines hit. Then there are the creeks and rivers. We still have 4 people missing. Which I know isn't anything compared to Joplin. These 4 happen to be my family.
Miss W--my thoughts are with you right now; I hope that you are able to hear from your family members soon.
Last night the Weather Channel was showing a massive tornado crossing (or near) I-40 in Oklahoma. I believe it was near Okla City. We've driven across Oklahoma on I-40 countless times..... Wonder what is causing such an intense tornado season???
They just upgraded the area for today.... southern IL & IN around that area be on the look out!!! http://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/watch/ww0370.html
Oh Miss W, I sure hope it's juat a matter of they're somewhere but can't access a phone or something like that. I pray that they are indeed safe and will be in touch soon with you. Feel free to update on here if you want to. Thinking of you and everyone else affected there.
Major, I heard that LaNina seasons often produce more tornadoes, that being said I've also heard the number for this year is unusually high.
I was thinking about this yesterday--wondering if it was actually a higher number of tornados, or just a higher number of tornados in populated areas.
Maybe so, ku_alum ....... I lived many years in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and tornados seem to frequently form southwest of there and head up in a northeast direction. When you are in the middle of the night and have a tornado WARNING it can be quite unnerving ...... accompanied by a feeling of complete helplessness. I feel for those who were in the path of these latest storms......
This is part of our local weatherman's prediction... He's pretty good, huh?!?! The same combination of factors (warm in the South, cool in Canada, warmer water in the Gulf and a weakening La Nina) that have made this such a deadly month for tornadoes will continue into May and possibly even June. So nationally, look for an above normal number of tornadoes in May/June. We have been cool and a little north of the storm track to get into most of the action so far, but that will change as temperatures warm. I still think that the prime area for severe weather will continue to be a little east of average (not in what’s called “Tornado Alley” in the central Plains states)….from the northeast edge of Texas and far eastern Oklahoma through Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio (maybe SE Iowa). Last year, we had more tornadoes in Minnesota than in any other state (how weird is that? – Minnesota may have 1/4th as many tornadoes this year as last).
I'm from St. Louis and the Kansas City area (Kansas side). I know tornados have gone down my street and over my house, but nothing serious. I can't imagine the devastation. Our prayers are with you!
Unfortunately the car was found with 3 bodies inside. One adult is still missing. It is expected that she did not survive.
That is soooooo sad. I pray that you and your family will seek Gods peace amd maybe grief counseling if you feel like it. Ive lost family but only 1 at a time even a few months apart but my heart goes out to you tonight. Im so sad for you.
Miss W. I am absolutely devastated for you. I am so sorry for your loss and I truly wish there was something I could do for you
http://www.thejesustv.com/main/medi...lin_Tornado_-_Inspirational_Videos_-_GodTube/ This is a video that came through my Christian emails about the tornadoes there, it made me teary eyed so just a heads up. I hope the weather gets better there soon. Anyone who is in the area know the best way to help from another state, like where to donate or is Redcross fine?
How very strange. Had I seen the clip without knowing what it was, I wouldn't have suspected a thing--- aside from that rotation in the top left corner.
I saw some pictures of a HS, maybe it was Joplin HS, I can't remember, but it was destroyed. What will happen to these students and teachers? How will they finish the year? Will they finish the year? It seems like such a nightmare, especially considering some students may have died in the storm
I'm just taking a guess here. But my friend teaches near St. Louis. They go back in early August, so I imagine their school year must be almost over. (We start after Labor Day, and our kids only have 4 teaching days left before exams.) I imagine they'll cancel the end of the school year. And I saw those pictures-- I think it was Joplin HS and the vocational high school.
They called school for this year, plan to host summer school at a different location, will launch the next school year in August, and rebuild. All staff are accounted for, they are still trying to find about 300 students. That doesn't mean they lost 300 students, that means that 300 students have not checked in.
I didn't watch this video, I've seen too many ... but, if people were on the approaching side of the tornado, they couldn't see it because it was a rain-wrapped tornado. It looked like heavy rain. However, those on the back side of the path could see the tornado ... it was massive.
Yesterday, I delivered (with the help of another teacher and my admin) the over 5000 items our school collected for survivors. We delivered to a location that was handing out the items as they came in. SO many people in line to get things. We ended up getting recruited to work a human chain of moving cases of water. After moving about 300 cases, my arms gave out. So, I walked the line of "customers" handing out bags of pet food. Lots of hugs with strangers, a few tears with strangers as they shared their story. The coolest of all: in the back of a uhaul throwing water to the human chain ... 2 of my recent HS graduates.
ku~as sad as the storms have been, they really have brought to light how many good people there are (too many news stories focus on the bad). There was a group from Tusculoosa(sp?), a town that has also been wiped out by tornadoes, that were headed to Joplin to help with relief efforts. There are still several more people who are taking the long weekend to go help out in towns that need it.
When we lost our high school to a tornado we were lucky enough to have a small fabric factory in town. They put up temporary walls and for a year, that was our school. We all were out a couple of days due to the storm, and the high school was out another 3 while everything got transferred (on the first day that we were all out, we all went to the high school to load what we could.)
We had a few scares here last night - I was at my card making class which happens to be in the woman's basement. About halfway through, her husband and son and dog came down to join us - they had told everyone in our area to take cover. Scary. We were fine though and there ended up being no confirmation of one. But these wicked storms are popping up more and more. I am used to them in DE because it is so flat and close to the ocean, but up here in PA BF said they rarely got big storms like that before because they usually break up over the mountains.
I'm from RI. The first time we had a tornado drill here in NC was a shock....it's very strange to be in a drill as a native New Englander. But I am so glad we have them.
Hugs, KU. Our school decided to send today's chapel offering, as well as cards and letters from the kids to one of the schools there. The kids' notes were so sweet.
