Renzatic on 1/5/2011 at 07:08
Quote Posted by henke
I'm glad the event didn't change you in any profound way though. Judging from the fact that you took the time to think up the funniest goddamn thread title ever I'd say you're still the same old Renz. :D
Yeah, I came out of this slightly bruised, a little shaken, but hardly beaten. Now if I were a block east, I would be displaying a far more dire attitude over the situation.
And yes, insurance does cover all damage. During a disaster, it's rare for insurance companies to start looking for excuses not to pay out. They'll be crucified in the press if they were to try. For this reason, and the huge monetary boost we're getting from FEMA, everyone in town will eventually be able to rebuild.
Quote Posted by Tocky
To me it's not a train but like a prolonged rumble of thunder.
That's exactly what it sounds like. It's like hearing a clap of thunder, but it never varies in pitch, and continues getting. I also heard a nice low whoooooooooo beforehand, which I'm assuming was the vacuum created by it.
...and this leads me to the tale of what I did shortly before it hit. I've told this story about 15 dozen times by now, but it's great for illustrating just how unprepared I or any of us were.
See, we get tornadoes down here. Quite frequently, in fact. But they're nowhere near the power of what you see in the midwest. It's flat there. Storms can build almost unabated, almost like a hurricane rolling across the ocean. It's hilly here, so most tornadoes pop up, knock over a barn, maybe tear off some shingles on some unfortunate guy's house, then disappear about a minute later. Trenton, for instance, they get a tornado almost once a week during the spring months. Rarely ever do you hear about anyone losing their life during one.
We usually take tornado warnings with a modern amount of concern at most. We arch eyebrows. Maybe get some flashlights and a flat of bottled water if we're extra careful. But no one rushes towards the basement as soon as they hear a warning issued over TV or anything like that. Hell, I even drove through one once. It knocked over a tree.
The only warning any of us had that this particular line of storms was something a little different were the huge amounts of red blots shown on the doppler radars of our preferred local news channels, and the slightly shellshocked expression on the weatherman's face. "Eh, maybe this is something a little different", I thought "I'll call up some friends and ask if they want to stay at the house until this is over". You know, just in case. Though we all know nothing is gonna happen. It's more an excuse to hang out if anything.
So I send some texts out. To one friend in particular. He lives in a one story slat house, and every room has a huge window occupying it. About the last place anyone would want to be during a tornado.
"Nah. I'm just gonna grab a pizza and ride it out with the wife and kids", he says. This was about 7:30. I figure whatever, and go out (
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3018396/sky.jpg) to take some pictures. It's about the most sinister looking sky I've seen in awhile, might get a good shot, I think. Maybe watching the sky change direction should've been a clue to prepare. But, you know, I'm dumb.
My dad shows up about this time to look up real estate on the computer.
About 7:45 the air raid siren goes off for about 3 seconds, followed shortly by an announcement no one can hear unless they're within a block of the courthouse. We all know what he's saying anyway, the usual conditions are favorable for a tornado spiel. I go inside to check the local stations, see what they say. Hey, they're off the air. Weird. Guess I'll have to head upstairs to see what the weather channel website has to say.
Tornado watch. Hmm. I text my friend and ask him again if he wants to come up. "Nah. I'm cool". Oh well, I'll goof off on the internet a bit.
8:05, I check the weather channel website again. Tornado warning in Catoosa county. It's not even that windy outside, but I decide to grab my stuff and head downstairs anyway. Dad's sitting in front of the laptop, looking at cabins no one in their right mind would want to buy.
"There's a tornado warning here, dad".
"Huh".
"A tornado warning. You think we should start getting ready"?
"It probably said thunderstorm warning. Tornadoes never come down this way"
"No. I'm pretty sure I know what I read. I'm gonna stick my head out the door, and see what it looks like out there".
This was probably about 8:15ish. Dad gets ahead of me, and opens the glass door out to the breezeway. I'm hunkered down, looking outside from under his extended arm. The sky had suddenly got really, really dark sometime beforehand. Both of us notice the overly weird weoeowoowowoeowow whipping noise the wind is making. The trees start to sway in the wind. First to the left. Then to the right. Then to the left again. Over and over.
My somewhat nonplussedness over the usual tornado warnings was getting a little plussed by this point. My arching eyebrow of slight concern? Arced a little higher. My heartrate increases a bit. Oh, I am concerned. I can tell dad is as well, considering his eyes keep getting wider and wider.
...then the wooooooooooo. No build up. It's just suddenly there.
Dad steps away from the door. It slides shut on the hydraulic hinge. And we hear it. I think it's a roll of thunder at first, but it keeps getting louder. A constant rumble. The glass door starts shaking in its frame, like someone is grabbing the handle and jerking their arm about.
I scream "GET TO THE BASEMENT". We both take off. The windows start rattling in their frames. My ears pop. The rumble is louder. I see the door down is blocked by the air purifier, and the rug. I don't even think about it. I throw it aside, try to open the door, see it's caught on the rug, throw it aside, and slam open the door. The lights start flickering wildly, and we both hear this huge BOOOOOOM, followed by what feels like the house swaying forward. Dad screams something about a tree hitting the house. By the time we're halfway down the steps, they go out completely.
By this point, beneath the terror, I'm mentally kicking myself in the ass for not getting a flashlight out. Stupidly, I run back up the stairs to grab one. It's pitch dark, only broken by the occasional orange yellow light strobing from the front windows into the rest of the house. I go into the bathroom, throw open the medicine cabinet, and grab the emergency LED light we have in there. Dad's standing at the top step waiting on me. For some reason, I pick this point to ponder over the fact that the house isn't really shaking, despite the racket the windows are making. It's vibrating lightly. Almost like you could hear the hum underneath. We continue down...
...and it's over. Just like that. Perfect silence. Perfect calm. I estimate that the storm started around 8:20. It was 8:23 when I looked at the clock after coming back upstairs. My dad, who's an even bigger idiot than I am on occasion, just rushes outside to go check on the neighbors without looking out the door. I do. The breezeway has alot more tree on it than it did 3 minutes ago.
My phone rings. It's my friend. He's panicking.
"The tornado came right through my backyard. Oh God, the kids are so scared, Matt. The house is fine, but I don't have any trees anymore. Oh God. It came right by". He sounds like he's two steps away from tears. Hell, I suddenly feel that way myself. If it weren't for his call, I would've assumed, even after all that fury, that this tornado was nothing more than another tree killer. I open up the front door to get a look outside.
...and see my mom's truck pulling up the street. She parks it down at the bottom of the driveway, and stumbles up the hill, screaming "It's gone! It's all gone! Oh God are you all right! It's gone". As it turns out, she had the dubious honor of being the first person down 151 after the tornado hit, following right behind it by not even 5 minutes, and not even realizing that a storm was just ahead. She went through even before the first emergency vehicle arrived.
So this has been a pretty long story already, so I'll go digest from here on out. I go check on the neighbors, pick up my friend and his family, and later on explore what's left of the town. This is an entirely other tale that can go ON, but I'll cut it short here.
...and this was how I lost my tornado cherry.
edit: little aside, I can see where the path where the tornado went over the ridge and into Cherokee Valley from my yard. What hit town was an EF-3. By the point it crested the ridge, it was an EF-4.
(
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3018396/Ridge_1.jpg) For reference, this is what the ridge should look like
(
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3018396/Ridge_2.jpg) And this is the path it took on the way out
(
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/images/ffc/catoosa086_new.JPG) ...and this is it on the other side
Also, for the couple of you who don't have Facebook accounts, I uploaded the original 5MP pics for my uncle. I'll post them here for you to check out if you want.
(
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3018396/Tornado.zip) Pics Zip Here
