[neffie]

Storms and especially tornadoes fascinate me. Especially stories of peoples' experiences with or in them.

Do any of you all have this interest too? Any stories of your own, or any you've heard of?

[Ygrec23]

Originally Posted by neffie

Storms and especially tornadoes fascinate me. Especially stories of peoples' experiences with or in them. Do any of you all have this interest too? Any stories of your own, or any you've heard of?

I agree. Tornadoes (the reality of tornadoes) is unlike pretty much anything else. And about as dramatic as you can get.

I wasn't raised in tornado country, but then I went to university in Chicago. Lived in a ten-story dorm on the top story which, at that time, gave us a totally unrestricted view to the southwest. And I saw a lot of tornadoes coming in from that direction. We all felt totally secure (whether we were or not I have no idea whatsoever, we were just dumb kids of course). And would just sit there drinking beer and watching the sky turn green and the huge funnel clouds form and slowly come in our direction. Nothing ever happened to us but lots of smaller buildings were damaged.

I've been through many hurricanes but none of them are in any way as amazing as tornadoes. A tornado is a distinct "thing," whereas a hurricane is just lots of wall-to-wall bad weather. One can be very impressed at the strength of a hurricane but you can't "see" it as a discreet object. Tornados are HUGE (at least the ones I saw) and the greening of the sky (for reasons of which I'm totally unaware) when tornadoes are around makes them even more dramatic.

I've seen lots of those TV shows about tornado trackers who drive around trying to get great visual shots of the storms. I must say I wouldn't be interested in doing that. I don't know all that many people experienced in tornadoes who would. You have to be a real daredevil, a real adrenaline connoisseur to want to get that close to tornadoes on a regular basis.

Take care!

Hey neffie!------yup, got back to NYC just in time for one of the rare tornadoes to hit last summer.

It was wild! It only hit down in Queens, killed 2, as I recall.

I was at a Doctor's appointment in the residential part of Queens..bout 5--6 pm.
I got my doggie out to walk her in our old neighbourhood; used to own a house a few blocks away--she was sooo happy (home).

Sky was kinda olive green...winds kicked up...a bit of rain...I got the dog back in the car. I was still early for my appointment, so I walked and looked up--you could feel the weirdness in the air.

A scent of danger..very eerie! Then a blast of sideways kinda rain--and big time wind!

I went into my appointment, the windows were rattling in the office. A bright light, like the sun came into the room. Doc offered me an umbrella (giggle--in a tornado!)

I went back to my car. I actually drove--son called on the cell "Where are you?"
"Near the Grand Central, goin back out to the Island" "MAAAAA!!! You are in a tornado!!!--don't you listen to the news?..." the signal was cut off.

The limb--BIG ONE! of big Maple (I think it was a Maple) fell and hit the roof of my car!! Yeehaw!! What a great car--love this car!!!

Some Police stopped and helped me get it off...Car is undamaged, I witnessed an amazing and rare moment in the whimsey of Mother Nature.God don't want me--yet!! Ugh. LOL!!!!! Only half a mile from me people were killed on the Grand Central by this tornado. Sad.

I was young and was not directly in the tornadoes path. Even so this tornado left an impression (so to speak).



http://www.crh.noaa.gov/fgf/?n=fargojune1957f5

[Fresia]

I grew up in tornado country but was fortunate to have never crossed their paths but twice in all that time, as usually could be found in a closet (literally) and they did not come near our neighborhood thankfully. I have seen the damage and destruction of neighboring areas, something to fear and not mess around with.

The one time was driving home from college, 350 mi trip, and wasn't aware of any bad weather reports, only rain. The sky had turned that grey/green color and could see storm clouds off to the north and east; the wind had picked up some. I had been paying attention to the road when I heard a train, where there should not be one, no tracks nearby. Looked to the right and about 2 miles off was a huge funnel moving towards the interstate. We had always been taught to get out of the car and get into a ditch. Always worried about that and what would be in them, (snakes and such) but better than getting sucked away. I get out with the dog, my large lab, who knew something was up. Trying to get him to lie down and stay still was a real problem so I harness him wrapping his leash around him to get a better hold and under me as it got closer and then trying to cover my head. My father always made me keep a blanket in my car of emergencies, this qualified and it kept me somewhat protected from the debris. Oh the crap flying in the air. It passed about 50 yards south of us. It picked up some of the cars that were moving on the hwy that did not pull over, the stopped ones in the ditches were still there. Had some serious bruises after that but was fortunate, others did not make it.

There was another time at the dorm and weather warning for tornado that day, I am in the closet of course (our only interior room with no window). Roommate walks in, "Holy cow, will you look at that!", of course had to look, saw two twisters in the parking lot picking up the cars and bikes and then the window blew in shattering not 10 sec later. I don't think I have ever moved so fast back into the closet. It was astounding and fearful the power. A few nicks from the glass, shame from my own stupidity, and now you won't get me out of the closet again when there is an area warning. Thankfully otherwise there was only property damage with those two.

[darkpurplesecrets]

I have seen tornadoes hit down. As a child I remember in Kansas seeing a tornado from the little room that was called our basement. I was terrified as the sirens sounded and seeing the trees bending (big trees). The little window seemed huge to a child that was terrified and being so afraid to take your eyes away yet almost covering your eyes with your fingers but never quite enough not to watch. Hearing the winds whipping and limbs hit the sides of your house and the damage done afterwards was really scary.

Several years ago, I was driving home from my therapy appointment and the rains were pounding. The sky was an off color and I ended up pulling off the side of the road waiting for the rains to let up enough to see. The hail pounding the car and almost looking like someone dumped loads of ice everywhere, I was afraid that my windows would break.

I felt so anxious sitting there but it soon slowed up enough to drive home. I was not far from my exit off the interstate but it was still about six miles after the exit to the exit I needed. As I drove down the road, I had the radio on and could hear the tornado warning for my town but I kept driving fearing that I would have to get in the ditch which terrified me more than trying to make it home.

As I came almost to my exit there was a small trailor park on the left across the four lanes and I watched a tornado touch down in that trailor park throwing debree high in the air, not sure it was not going to hit my car as it just flew all around. The tornado did a lot of damage in a short amount of time but I just kept driving and did not stop. The winds were so strong but it did not stop me from pushing forward. Trying to drive and watch at the same time was terrifying to say the least.

The next day to see the damage it caused was more frightening than when I was driving through it as my fear and adrenaline to keep going was pushing me to just get home. I had never been that close to a tornado and hope to never be that close again. It was not one of those huge black tornadoes but one that was big enough.

It was a long night of funnels and tornadoes around the area (a record that year), and I spent much of the night in the tub as my apartment did not have a basement or shelter, at least not one I was going to brave out into the darkness to get too. Being in them and seeing one that close was terrifying. I could never be a storm chaser, one was enough to last me a life time.

dps

[KathyM]

1967 on my 9th birthday - an F4/5 struck my town at 5;30 pm.. I came home from school. My grandfather was visiting from Denmark....mom was drunk. As the storm approached, my grandfather became nervous, but mom laughed it off and said we had storms like this all the time.

When our windows blew out, I went into my bedroom to ride out the storm. When it was over, I was amazed at the power of the wind - had no idea it could blow that hard. As we ventured out further, it was heartbreaking to see all the destruction - in addition to many homes, it destroyed a high school and many business, including a rollerskating rink where some of my friends were skating.

My father came home early that day. If it hadn't been my birthday, he would most likely have been stuck at the intersection where the tornado first touched down and killed/injured a majority of the people.

Over 300 people were injured, and 33 people lost their lives that day on my birthday - including some friends at the roller rink. Even today, people I know who lived through that storm continue to say a silent prayer whenever they drive through the intersection where it first touched down.

Here are some pics from the official archive of the storm...

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lot/?n=OakLawn_tornado_pics

[nacht]

Yep. This past May, actually. Thirteen tornadoes in the space of two hours. One touched down less than a quarter of a mile from my house and I watched the funnel cloud form. In fact, I think I have some pictures of it floating around online. It looks like the fist of an angry god A few years before that, a tornado tore the storefront right off the building I was working in at the time - while I was still in it. D:

And then in college a couple of years before that, I was out getting some dinner during finals week and as my friend and I stepped outside, the sirens went off. I looked across the nearby lake and across the highway that divides it, there was a waterspout. Yes, a tornado made out of water. It was the coolest thing I'd ever seen.

I live in north Texas, we are quite prone to tornadoes! They happen regularly every spring and I've had several close calls with them over the years.

[eskielover]

Remembering the 1966 tornado that came through Topeka.http://www.crh.noaa.gov/top/events/66tornado.php I arrived there the week after it happened to visit my grandparents for the summer. Couldn't believe the complete devistation of that large size city....from one end to the other. Indian folklore said that no tornadoes would come over Burnetts mound...kept the city safe....funny thing, God decided to get rid of that myth....the tornado, 1/2 mile wide came right over the TOP of Burnetts mound & went for 22 miles from one end of the city to the other where it lifted just after getting to the Kansas river. It was an F5 tornado. All I remember seeing were flattened houses everywhere we drove. Houses picked off their foundations & basements & lifted into the back yard. Huge blanks driven through upstairs windows. I remember, my grandfather worked for the Santa Fe railroad as one of their freight auditors. The office was right in town across from the state capitol. I remember looking out the window of his office & there was tar paper driven right around a window that couldn't be opened. He had papers in his desk that were drawn out of the desk drawer & sucked through the doorway transum, up the flight of stairs & was found the next story up from where he was working. My grandparents said that they had gone to their basement that evening for the weather watch & heard this huge roar outside....say this huge black force seemed to be coming right at the house & then it seemed to turn away & headed right across town, destroying many of the old stone buildings of Washburn University. They say even to this day that the financial damage caused by that tornado is grater than any other tornado to date....lucky that the loss of life wasn't great....think that 16 lost their life in that huge tornado.

I have to admit...I am very careless about the tornado warnings where I live now. I sit up in my upstairs bedroom even though I have a basement. Getting to the basement would be impossible even if I heard a tornado coming. The first tornado warning I got after moving here was in February.....no one has tornadoes in February!!!!!!! Tornadoes are interesting....but don't want to be in or close to one after seeing all the damage it can cause

[darkpurplesecrets]

Eskie----

I was actually there in Topeka when that tornado touched down. I was only three years old but we were at my grandparents house I have been told. When I would go to my grandparents as I got older to stay with my aunt I can remember them talking about that tornado. My grandparents house was somewhere in the path of that tornado. At the time I also lived in Topeka but I cannot really remember anything. I saw many pictures that my grandparents took after that storm. I am glad I was too young to remember it.

dps

[eskielover]

DPS-----
I was 13 when went there right after the tornado hit.....wow, another Topeka person.......I really loved that town. We used to go fishing in the creeks & farm ponds & in the Kansas river. The first place my grandfather took me fishing was at Gage park.....they had a kids pond there. Did you go to the Gage park zoo? I always remembered how small the cages were for the poor animals after experiencing the huge open areas that the California zoo had. I was always there in the hot summer & we tried climbing up to the doom of the capital, but with my mom & grandma, we never ended up making it all the way to the top. There was a department store in town.....think it was Crosby's that my grandmother always shopped at when we went into town. My grandparents actually lived fairly close to Burnetts Mound which was why they saw the tornado coming so well.

When they first moved to Topeka (when I was 5....in 1958), they lived in this huge apartment complex with buildings in a horse shoe shape with a huge grass area in front & a play ground area in back. That first year my mom & I were sitting in the apartment waiting for my grandma to pick up my grandpa at work. All of a sudden these horrible siren noises went off. Being from California, the only time we heard sirens like that were when they were testing the cold war warning system. We had no idea what it was all about & dinner was cooking on the stove. One of the maintenance men came knocking at our door & took us to his workman's basement. I still remember the short ribs that were cooking in the pot that night.

A few weeks later, in the middle of the night, the sirens went off again. Looking out the window, the rain was parallel to the ground with the huge hurricane force wind that was blowing. I remember my grandpa had like an overcoat that he put on....stuck me under his coat & we all had to trudge outside & over to the basement where people kept their storage things.....everyone was huddled together in the basement waiting for the storm to pass. The one thing I remember on the walk to the basement was they had those underground trash can's that you could step on & they would open & dump the trash into....well, they were floating in all the water. There were actually no tornadoes that touched down either of those times.....but everyone was definitely more careful & rather safe than sorry......which is why I can't believe I am so careless about going to my basement then the tornado warning goes off here.....especially after seeing all the damage that the Topeka tornado did. I have also seen the damage that the little tornadoes have done here also & one actually hit across the street before I ever moved here.....so it's not like they aren't possible to be close by.

[darkpurplesecrets]

Eskie---

Small world. Yes, I was born in Topeka at Storemont Vail Hospital. I grew up there, or close to there, and although a lot of it I cannot remember I know it was Topeka we lived a lot of the time. There were always tornado sirens going off it seemed and I remember being so afraid yet as a child always watching out the small windows in the basement trying to see outside.

We were told to stay to one side of the basement (away from the windows) and I can remember being terrified when the lights would go out. I remember the TV weather man and the constant alerts going off, and him saying the dangers and talking about flying debree. I can still hear him saying go to the nearest basement or a the small interior of your house, it was all so scary at that time.

I have been to the Gage Park Zoo and even remember riding the train ride going around the zoo. Also going to the State Capital once for the Easter Egg Hunt on the lawn. I lived at one time over by North Topeka, over the bridge, something I do not want or like to remember. But I do remember the tornado sirens, seemed like there was a lot of tornadoes in that area.

dps

[eskielover]

I spent every summer of my life from the age of 5 until I was 16 in Topeka for about 2-3 months. It was interesting because after my grandparents moved into their house, we never had a single tornado warning during the time I was there. We used the basement for playing ping-pong & to cool down when the AC went out.

At that point, my grandpa retired from Santa Fe & they sold their home (after the basement completely flooded) & came back to California. Guess they wonderful city planners didn't realize that the parking lot they made at the top of the hill would cause the runnoff it did in the huge rains....ran down the hill & their house was right at the bottom....it got all the water dumped in their basement. Remember then had to build high wells up around the basement windows & it was impossible to see out anymore. I really don't like the fully enclosed basements....I like the one I have...it's a great basement that has 2 sliding glass doors that open into my back yard. Only problem I have with my basement is that the water seeps through the cinder block walls even with the water proof paint on it & I get huge puddles of water laying around my basement in wet weather.

Have had more tornado warnings living here in KY for the last 4 years than all the summers spent in Topeka. We even had a tornado warning & actual tornados come through here in February my first winter here.....Feburary IS NOT TORNADO SEASON....didn't anyone tell the tornado

[neffie]

Thanks for all the posts, everyone! So well-detailed. And that's good to hear of all who weren't hurt badly or survived.

Any more posts/replies would be appreciated, if you happen to be seeing this for the first time.