Raleigh Tornado, I am very lucky !!

GothingNC · 02:13 PM

Damage about a mile down the road from my house

Any other Pelican members affected and need assistance?

GothingNC · 04-18-2011, 02:04 PM

Some more

This is only a small part of the widespread devastion of a Tornado that traveled 63 miles

yetibone · 04-18-2011, 03:43 PM

Saturday evening right after the storm passed, my wife went to Apex for some groceries and stuff. She said there were chunks of yellow insulation falling in the parking lot of the Super Target at NC55/US64. It was from the roof of the Lowe's in Sanford about 40 miles away.

widgeon13 · 04-18-2011, 03:52 PM

Hope everyone is safe.

Oh Haha · 04-18-2011, 04:01 PM

I am glad you are ok. My son and I watched the news reports tonight. He is learning about weather in 1st grade.

Prayers to everyone in the affected areas of those states.

island911 · 04-18-2011, 04:02 PM

Damn, even the earthquakes we have on the west coast rarely do so much damage. . . even after decades of waiting for a big one.

I'll never understand why folks live where every year brings a new disaster season.

GothingNC · 04-18-2011, 04:17 PM

I heard that tornadoe that passed by my house traveled 63 miles at an average speed of 65 MPH!

azasadny · azasadny's Garage

Wow! I'm glad you're OK!

cgarr · cgarr's Garage

Do most homes there have basements or not?

GothingNC · 04-18-2011, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cgarr

Do most homes there have basements or not?

Not many hames have basements, probably would need C4 to dig holes in my yard.

stomachmonkey · 04-18-2011, 05:07 PM

No basements around our parts but we do have a purpose built reinforced safe room in the center of the house.

KFC911 · 04-18-2011, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GothingNC

I heard that tornadoe that passed by my house traveled 63 miles at an average speed of 65 MPH!

Wow John, glad you're OK! When that system moved over my area, as you say, it was hauling butt at 60+ mph, so the "window of danger" was only a few minutes for me. Doplar radar was showing tornadic activity, but they never touched down here. Tornados are rare here (for those outside this area), but anytime you have fierce thunderstorms (i.e. "heat"), they "can" happen. One of my aunts is lucky to be alive after a storm last year produced tornados just a few miles from my house with similar devastation, just not widespread like this one was. I don't know where one lives to escape "mother nature" in one form or another. I sawed, hauled, and split more wood last spring/summer than I care to remember..."got firewood?".

KFC911 · 04-18-2011, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cgarr

Do most homes there have basements or not?

Around here, lot's of homes have basements (mine doesn't), but as you move towards Raleigh and further east, virtually none do, and certainly not as you near the coastal plain "down east".

Zeke · 04-18-2011, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by island911

Damn, even the earthquakes we have on the west coast rarely do so much damage. . . even after decades of waiting for a big one.

I'll never understand why folks live where every year brings a new disaster season.

It's because certain types of disaster have a narrow path compared to others. But any and all of it can become a major disaster. Just look at it statistically.

How did Mt. St. Helens affect you?

rattlsnak · rattlsnak's Garage

My sister in law's family lives in Benson and it was really bad there as well. They still dont have power but no damage to their property.

pwd72s · 04-18-2011, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by milt

It's because certain types of disaster have a narrow path compared to others. But any and all of it can become a major disaster. Just look at it statistically.

How did Mt. St. Helens affect you?

Probably not much...Islands of Puget Sound were North and West of the blast.
Winds were easterly when St. Helens erupted. I'm roughly 120 miles south and barely got a dusting...like a light talcum powder. It was the folks of points east who got buried...Spokane area...

pwd72s · 04-18-2011, 06:53 PM

Sorry to change the topic...Tornados are just plain scary...in the way they move. Very little warning. My best wishes to all who live there...My friend Howard in Omaha writes of them often...yes, he has a basement.

KFC911 · 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pwd72s

Sorry to change the topic...Tornados are just plain scary...in the way they move. Very little warning.... .

Paul, typically you are absolutely correct with tornado producing "local" thunderstroms, but this system started out in the OK/AR area as I recall and moved across the whole southeast...we had a couple of days warning "this time". It passed here at 1:30 Sat. afternoon, and they had pretty much accurately predicted the time at least a day before. It "could" have been much worse without the prior notices imo.

GH85Carrera · GH85Carrera's Garage

There is a lot of warning time for tornados around here. We had over 24 hours for some tornados.

azasadny · azasadny's Garage

People I know in MI always talk about the "crazy folks in CA who live through earthquakes, fires, mud slides, drought, floods, etc..." and they couldn't live that way. They live in a state that gets a lot of tornados and severe thunderstorms that do an incredible amount of damage, but they live with it and accept it as a matter of fact they can't change. Strange...