Tornados bashing South-East, even VA - 70+ dead in AL

[GreedyTurbo529]

ok there is "shakey" camera...and there is running around the car like a little child pissing himself and omg every 10 seconds.

touche

[BigTyla]

The apartment complex was taken out shortly after...

You know what's really scary? I was at that very apartment complex 11 months ago celebrating my sister's graduation from UA.

VR4Rob, VR4Dani, and I are okay. I had very minor property damage (one tree uprooted and barely missed my neighbor's house and another tree lost a massive limb and it fell on top of our fence). My wife has a final to take online so we had to leave Huntsville and go to my hometown of Ozark so she can get that done on Tuesday. They were saying the day after the storm that we wouldn't have power in Huntsville proper for at least 5 days, and the outlying towns (like the one I live in) wouldn't have power for at least a week. A minor inconvenience considering the fact that we still have a house and also that people lost their lives two miles from my house.

Not even a quarter-mile from our house, trees, power lines, and utility poles were thrown around the street like rag dolls. Some of the trees were snapped at the trunk like toothpicks. I've been through my fair share of storms in my life (Hurricane Opal comes to mind) but I've never seen anything like this.

Looking at the Google Maps posted showing the touchdown locations of the tornadoes, four touched down within two miles of our house. I can recall one specific point in the storm where I thought that thunder was going nonstop. Upon further reflection I realized it was actually the wind throwing our house around. It's definitely an experience I'd rather not relive.

I will say I'm even more appreciative of my Fit following this storm. It was low on gas as we were leaving the following day, so low in fact that the gas light came on before we even left Huntsville. The manual says the car has 1.6 gallons left at that point plus "a small amount of reserve". We were able to travel 77 miles with me drafting behind semis at 65 mph on the interstate before finally reaching a gas station near Birmingham that had power, but had to wait over an hour and a half in line to fill the car up. I topped the car off with 10.1 gallons of gas. The tank's capacity is 10.6 gallons. I haven't been able to confirm if that capacity is including the reserve tank so I can't get an official mpg measurement between the time the light came on and the time I filled up, but if it were including the reserve tank I would have gotten 77 mpg and that can't be right. I'm going to guess it was more like 50 mpg.

[beepbeep]

VR4Rob, VR4Dani, and I are okay.

Glad to hear you are ok, too. My heart goes out to all the families and communities. I keep reading new articles and reports and can hardly fathom what everyone is going through.

[EZnTn]

You know what's really scary?

TORNADOES

VR4Rob, VR4Dani, and I are okay.

FTFY
Good to hear y'all came out unscathed.
Three confirmed systems came thru NE TN Wed evening.
It was all over by around 10:30 that night.
Compared to other places, we came out relatively well.
I've heard and read about so many who have volunteered help in so many different ways.
John Deere has a factory here, they shut down production on Thursday and Friday.
Over 175 employees volunteered their time and efforts (paid by JD btw) to help those affected by these storms.
They are not the only local large employer to come to the aid of those most in need.
Churches and other civic groups have managed to insure that not only the affected, but those offering aid, clearing roads and fields of debris have had plenty of food and water.
Our community has really gotten behind this catastrophe.
It's really impressive to see how everyone has come together to help those folks out.

I really think the destruction over the southeast rivals Katrina, if it doesn't surpass it, in destruction and people displaced.

Thoughts go out to all those affected by these storms. All I can do is pray we've seen the end of this severe weather.

[BigTyla]

FTFY
Good to hear y'all came out unscathed.
Three confirmed systems came thru NE TN Wed evening.
It was all over by around 10:30 that night.
Compared to other places, we came out relatively well.
I've heard and read about so many who have volunteered help in so many different ways.
John Deere has a factory here, they shut down production on Thursday and Friday.
Over 175 employees volunteered their time and efforts (paid by JD btw) to help those affected by these storms.
They are not the only local large employer to come to the aid of those most in need.
Churches and other civic groups have managed to insure that not only the affected, but those offering aid, clearing roads and fields of debris have had plenty of food and water.
Our community has really gotten behind this catastrophe.
It's really impressive to see how everyone has come together to help those folks out.

I really think the destruction over the southeast rivals Katrina, if it doesn't surpass it, in destruction and people displaced.

Thoughts go out to all those affected by these storms. All I can do is pray we've seen the end of this severe weather.

It probably will surpass Katrina. You can flee from hurricanes, but tornadoes are a different beast.

More storms are supposed to roll through Monday and Tuesday but I don't think they're supposed to be severe.

[BigTyla]

Glad to hear you are ok, too. My heart goes out to all the families and communities. I keep reading new articles and reports and can hardly fathom what everyone is going through.

Thank you. I'm looking forward to getting back up there to help out in the cleanup. It's going to take months in some areas.

[green-lantern]

The apartment complex was taken out shortly after...

That is just....WOW! Very scary!