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Author
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Topic: Too close for comfort
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Cdog911
"There are some ideas so absurd only an intellectual could believe them."--George Orwell.
Member # 7
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posted June 12, 2008 04:58 AM
What a long night. Last evening, about 10 or so, with a basement full of neighbors, we had the closest fly-by of a tornado that I've experienced for several years. Just shy of three miles south of my house. It was first noted as a radar signature south of Salina 30 miles to the west of us. It traveled easterly along the south side of the Smoky Hill River pretty much right down the heart of where I do a lot of calling. It was first observed by spotters with the Fire Department I used to be an officer with 10 miles west of us. It traveled east, to the immediate south of Abilene, past a small town called Enterprise, before it took a left-hand turn and damaged or destroyed 85% of the town of Chapman where dozens were injured, including three critically, and one 21-year old woman was killed. It's base was a half-mile wide and it continued past Chapman for another sixty miles before dissipating. After us, it hit Manhattan Kansas and the K-State campus, destroying several buildings there. I was on the phone with Q when all hell broke loose and everything in town with a lightbar and a siren started racing for the Interstate. My brother is the head of County Emergency Services and I spent some time last into the night listening to him coordinate operations on the scanner as they brought in heavy equipment to clear streets and send FD personnel house to house. They were requesting ambulances from as far as a hundred miles away to assist. And you cannot believe how hard it is for me NOT to respond and volunteer. All those years of experience and training, but knowing that they've got all they need and the last thing they need is spectators.
I just thank God today that it missed us. It was one thing to chase those things when I was a bachelor and didn't have a family with kids to protect. Today's another story.
[ June 12, 2008, 05:02 AM: Message edited by: Cdog911 ]
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I am only one. But still, I am one. I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something; and, because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.
Posts: 5440 | From: The gun-lovin', gun-friendly wild, wild west | Registered: Jan 2003
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Kelly Jackson
SECOND PLACE/GARTH BROOKS LOOK-A-LIKE CONTEST
Member # 977
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posted June 12, 2008 06:48 AM
Glad you made it thru ok. Hopefully the skies will clear soon.
Posts: 997 | From: Comanche OK | Registered: Oct 2006
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NASA
Knows what it's all about
Member # 177
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posted June 12, 2008 09:20 AM
Lance, I didn't realize that it first touched down only 3 miles from you! ![[Eek!]](eek.gif) I'm watching the news coverage right now. I'll bet there were a few atheists acknowledging God last night.
Posts: 1168 | From: Typical White Person | Registered: Apr 2003
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TA17Rem
Hello, I'm the legendary Tim Anderson, Southern Minneesota Know it all
Member # 794
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posted June 12, 2008 09:43 AM
We had a couple of nice storms roll through just before dark yesterday. Normaly we have a couple of spotters out but since a twister hit my home town 10 years ago it has never been the same. Now when a storm approaches where i live about half of the towns people are outside watching the skies. Anytime the skies get dark or we hear thunder or the wind starts to pick-up people are looking to the sky or horizen. I've always loved to lay in bed at nite and listen to the thunder as a storm would pass, now i sit by the patio door watching and hopeing nothing comes out of the clouds except rain...
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What if I told you, the left wing and right wing both belong to same bird!
Posts: 5621 | From: S.D. | Registered: Jan 2006
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TA17Rem
Hello, I'm the legendary Tim Anderson, Southern Minneesota Know it all
Member # 794
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posted June 12, 2008 09:52 AM
quote:
I'll bet there were a few atheists acknowledging God last night.
From what i heard from various church leaders here at home, God has no control of the weather, life or death. Its all up to mother nature, but God does get to decide where you go if you don't make it if thats any comfort....
We had one pasture that completely lost it, he resighned from the church and went to some kind of retreat for pastures and to try and find or renew his faith with God again..
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What if I told you, the left wing and right wing both belong to same bird!
Posts: 5621 | From: S.D. | Registered: Jan 2006
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CrossJ
SECOND PLACE: PAUL RYAN Look-a-like contest
Member # 884
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posted June 12, 2008 01:23 PM
quote:
... he resighned from the church and went to some kind of retreat for pastures and to try and find or renew his faith with God again..
So he he basically got turned out to Pastor...or something like that? ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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A friend will help you move. A good friend will help you move a body.
Posts: 1025 | From: on a water tower | Registered: Jul 2006
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Kelly Jackson
SECOND PLACE/GARTH BROOKS LOOK-A-LIKE CONTEST
Member # 977
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posted June 12, 2008 02:32 PM
G....that was a good one, but you best be watching for lightning.
Posts: 997 | From: Comanche OK | Registered: Oct 2006
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R.Shaw
Peanut Butter Man, da da da da DAH!
Member # 73
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posted June 12, 2008 02:55 PM
Had one touch down briefly just 2 miles west of my house and then 30 minutes later another about 9 miles north of me. 1.75 inch hail is involved.
It aint over yet.
And just when you think it cant get any worse, a bear is spotted here. No joke and it is confirmed with sightings and tracks. Yesterday the bear was west of town and today it was spotted in the city park.
Geordie, How do I clean Red Seal off my screen?
Randy
Posts: 567 | From: Nebraska | Registered: Jan 2003
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TA17Rem
Hello, I'm the legendary Tim Anderson, Southern Minneesota Know it all
Member # 794
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posted June 12, 2008 04:35 PM
LOL Geordie. Was leaveing that for Leonard to clean up..LOL ![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
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What if I told you, the left wing and right wing both belong to same bird!
Posts: 5621 | From: S.D. | Registered: Jan 2006
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted June 12, 2008 04:44 PM
Yeah, right! The janitorial staff cleans up. No bears in Missouri? Where did they all go? And, what the hell is red seal?
Good hunting. LB
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 32368 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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R.Shaw
Peanut Butter Man, da da da da DAH!
Member # 73
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posted June 12, 2008 05:30 PM
I reckon there are bears in south MO, just not any right around where I live. Now mountain lions and black panthers, we got plenty of them. LOL. Practically one sighting a week. Just not any tracks.
Red Seal is chewing tobacco. Kinda a poor mans skoal.
Randy
Posts: 567 | From: Nebraska | Registered: Jan 2003
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CrossJ
SECOND PLACE: PAUL RYAN Look-a-like contest
Member # 884
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posted June 12, 2008 05:36 PM
quote:
Geordie, How do I clean Red Seal off my screen?
The poormans way is to let it dry, then scrape it off for a later date!
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A friend will help you move. A good friend will help you move a body.
Posts: 1025 | From: on a water tower | Registered: Jul 2006
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Cdog911
"There are some ideas so absurd only an intellectual could believe them."--George Orwell.
Member # 7
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posted June 13, 2008 07:59 AM
Hey Leonard, they could sure use the janitorial staff over there in Chapman starting tomorrow. What time can I pick you up at the airport?
Here's a link to a story on the tornado with some pretty good pics of the damage.
http://www.saljournal.com/rdnews/story/Duane-s-Chapman-main-story-6-12-08
I'm on vacation all this week and although I had other plans, I plan to try and spend some time over there helping with clean up.
This is a real tragedy. Chapman was a real jewel in our county. On the western fringes of the scenic Flint Hills, Chapman had more stately trees than any other city in the county. Most neighborhoods were nestled in amongst huge oaks and cottonwoods where, at this time of the year, you cold hardly find a patch of sunlight big enough to sunbathe in. We go over there every year to buy fireworks for the Fourth, and that neighborhood has been completely denuded of trees and swept clean of homes. I've spent a lot of time the last day or so going through lists of people I know there who I know are alright, but who have lost everything. I feel so bad for them today.
This picture shows how brutal those winds were.
This is what's left of a grove of saplings to the immediate SW of town where the tornado came across the river. It was so strong that rather than just bending them over, it snapped them off like a rotary mower.
[ June 13, 2008, 08:01 AM: Message edited by: Cdog911 ]
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I am only one. But still, I am one. I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something; and, because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.
Posts: 5440 | From: The gun-lovin', gun-friendly wild, wild west | Registered: Jan 2003
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Cdog911
"There are some ideas so absurd only an intellectual could believe them."--George Orwell.
Member # 7
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posted June 13, 2008 11:52 AM
Thanks for those pics, Jeremy. I've been looking for some to see how campus fared. I figured Durland would have lost a lot more glass than it did. And we now know what it will take to get those damned parking meters out of the Union parking lot - an F5 tornado!
Those guys that drive the little yeller leaf sweeper machines are gonna have their work cut out for them this week.
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I am only one. But still, I am one. I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something; and, because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.
Posts: 5440 | From: The gun-lovin', gun-friendly wild, wild west | Registered: Jan 2003
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Cdog911
"There are some ideas so absurd only an intellectual could believe them."--George Orwell.
Member # 7
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posted June 13, 2008 12:02 PM
Looking through some of the various storm shots that have been submitted to KAKE-TV this week and found this one taken near Haysville (near Wichita) either last night or the night before (likely last night.
It appears to be either a gust front or a shelf cloud on the leading edge of the supercell. You could call it Floyd for all that matters but I'm sure the first thought you'd have when you saw it was "holy shit". That is an ominous looking cloud, isn't it?
BTW, the news is saying that Kansas leads the nation in tornadoes this year. Wahoo!!!
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I am only one. But still, I am one. I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something; and, because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.
Posts: 5440 | From: The gun-lovin', gun-friendly wild, wild west | Registered: Jan 2003
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted June 13, 2008 01:15 PM
....as it has since 1939. Ask Dorothy.
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 32368 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Kelly Jackson
SECOND PLACE/GARTH BROOKS LOOK-A-LIKE CONTEST
Member # 977
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posted June 13, 2008 02:10 PM
dang thats a bad bitch right there...
Posts: 997 | From: Comanche OK | Registered: Oct 2006
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NASA
Knows what it's all about
Member # 177
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posted June 13, 2008 04:19 PM
What a photo! And look at the bottom right of the cloud base. Are those funnels?
Posts: 1168 | From: Typical White Person | Registered: Apr 2003
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Cdog911
"There are some ideas so absurd only an intellectual could believe them."--George Orwell.
Member # 7
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posted June 13, 2008 05:06 PM
Probably not. My guess is that what you're seeing is the leading edge of the storm because of the bowing out of the line of clouds, usually an indicator of strong winds aloft pushing the cloud mass forward and strong inflow from the bottom. Vorteces generally form to the rear of a storm cell. (On the other hand, it could be a helluva wall cloud, but it doesn't look like one.)What those look like are either "scud clouds", grey clouds that spontaneously form and travel quickly just beneath the cloud base, or what the National Weather Service actually calls RSC's - Really Scary-looking Clouds. Generally, by themselves, they're not indicative of anything dangerous, except that they don't show up unless the storm that's producing them is gawd awful nasty.
I posted a picture at MPH of some little screech owls that were flying around my neighbor's house Wednesday night that illustrate what our clouds were like here at around 8 p.m. that night.
This picture was taken looking west-southwest. At that time of day, it should have been bright blues and yellows from the setting sun rather than the sickly greyish-green it had become.
I do want to vent about something, if y'all don't mind. If you're with the Red Cross, I apologize, but somebody needs to slap those people upside the head.
Earlier today, they chose to close down the shelter they had established in Abilene for displaced families. Everyone has found shelter someplace else, and I don't blame them. Local residents and businesses have donated nearly a semi-truck load of bottled water, soda, towels, diapers, toiletries, water bottles, and the like that were not used at the shelter. So, the lady in charge of the shelter took it upon herself to make the command decision that all that inventory would be shipped off to be stored in some Red Cross facility rather than taking it to Chapman and distributing it to people that really need it and for whom it was intended. It took the County Emergency Preparedness Director stepping in and threatening to take possession of the inventory by lawful force if necessary to get her and the Red Cross to acquiesce. This isn't the first time I've seen them cause problems.
Last December, following our ice storm, when a shelter was set up in the same place, the same lady, following the same rules, refused to allow anyone that didn't sign in with all their complete information first to enjoy even so much as a cup of hot coffee, let alone a cot. The Emergency Preparedness Director had to get literally right in her face and tell her that this was his gawd-damned county, that he was in charge, and that if she couldn't do things the way he was ordering her to do them, then she could get the hell out.
Another instance - 1993 flood. I was part of a unified command structure involving the Fire Dept, EMS, Sheriff's Department and the National Guard. The Red Cross set up their canteen truck and then came all the stupid rules and demands. They wouldn't do "this" until we did "that". Yada yada yada. The Incident Commander ordered me to go fix the problem, so I did. I went and spoke nicely to the Red Cross guy in charge on scene and he simply refused to deviate from their inflexible operating plan. I made a phone call to the Salvation Army who offered their canteen, then went back and nicely told the guy in charge that there was a NG Humvee at the northern entry point into town and that those guards had been instructed to let them out of town within 30 minutes. Also, they had been advised that if the Red Cross truck hadn't left within the half-hour, that they were to send personnel to their location and help them to leave. I basically kicked them out of a disaster scene as should have been done. They have been nothing but a problem on every scene I've ever seen them set up an operation like that. These people have been decimated. They've lost everything they didn't have on their backs when they ran for their lives Wednesday night. The last thing they want is policies, crap and people telling them what they have to do just to be able to lay down and rest when all they ask for is some food, something to drink and a place to cry. How can they not see that? ![[Mad]](mad.gif)
Here's one of the most recent video reports on the recovery.
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1600119146/bclid1600108218/bctid1606795064
I'm heading over tomorrow morning and probably spend father's day there as well. They started letting in volunteers to help and will be signing in people tomorrow a.m. at 8. What time do you want to meet me there with your janitor supplies, Leonard? (BYOBAG, Bring your own boots and gloves, and if the Red Cross has any say in it, your own water and toilet paper, too.)
[ June 13, 2008, 05:12 PM: Message edited by: Cdog911 ]
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I am only one. But still, I am one. I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something; and, because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.
Posts: 5440 | From: The gun-lovin', gun-friendly wild, wild west | Registered: Jan 2003
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Cdog911
"There are some ideas so absurd only an intellectual could believe them."--George Orwell.
Member # 7
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posted June 19, 2008 06:02 PM
Went to Chapman Saturday to volunteer for clean up and I can honestly say, holy crap! What a mess!
This thing was so powerful that it uprooted entire lawns leaving nothing but bare dirt. They just lifted the checkpoints and curfews a couple hours ago and I was able to take my wife over so she could see it first hand. One thing I saw Saturday that I wanted a picture of is this timber along the Smoky Hill River.
Prior to 6-11, it was a 20-30 acre timber of towering oaks and cottonwoods, solid canopy from one side to the other just like what you can see in the background across that golden wheatfield. Afterwards, all the trees have been snapped off and laid down pointing to the ENE - the direction the tornado was moving.
From the aerials I've seen, the actual width of the tornado on the ground was about a block, give or take. The affected area from winds and flying debris causing sufficient damage to destroy other homes was roughly six blocks wide.
Either way, whoever deer hunted in this timber is going to have one hell of a lot of work dragging the next deer out that they shoot in there. That ebris field is probably 25-feet deep in brush.
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I am only one. But still, I am one. I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something; and, because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.
Posts: 5440 | From: The gun-lovin', gun-friendly wild, wild west | Registered: Jan 2003
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted June 29, 2008 08:48 AM
Has anybody seen this email floating around?
quote:
As you watch the horrible flooding in the Midwest, have you noticed that there are no farmers running around with stolen plasma TVs or holding stolen liquor over their heads?? There's no looting or yelling, "Where's Bush?", "Where's FEMA?, Where's my check?" or "Why isn't the Government out here saving me and my farm?"
Likewise, I've also noticed there are no reports of any other country coming to help or sending aid.
And where are Reverends Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton?
Interesting contrast to Katrina and New Orleans isn't it???!!!!
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 32368 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Cdog911
"There are some ideas so absurd only an intellectual could believe them."--George Orwell.
Member # 7
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posted June 29, 2008 11:34 AM
It's here, in its entirety, for anyone who hasn't.
http://midwestpredator.groupee.net/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/6281046682/m/6431080982
On a positive note, and in follow up to the original thread here, the cleanup in Chapman is almost complete. Friday, authorities (my brother) announced that all volunteers that had not made prearrangements to be in Chapman this weekend were to take the weekend off and relax. Over 1000 dump and semi-truck loads of construction debris have been hauled outside of town to a designated landfill site in less than a week and aside from removing large stumps remaining from dozens of large trees, as well as "light raking", the town is considered "clean". In fact, I drove through there Thursday night and was amazed at how many of the homes had been razed already. Nothing but foundations sticking up in the midst of bare dirt lots where homes, trees and grass once stood. All this, in less than three weeks.
Thousands of volunteers from all over the state and surrounding states have spent time there with rakes, shovels and wheelbarrows moving immense amounts of debris. A radio did their noontime show there the other day and spoke with several people from out of state who'd been passing through on vacation. They heard the call for help, bought gloves and work clothes here in Abilene, and pitched in to help people out. Total strangers with no vested interest in seeing that the folks of Chapman, a town settled by the Irish many years ago, were taken care of. Going through that town now brings a tear to your eye, partly because of how beautiful their town was before the tornado compared to what it looks like now, partly because of the strength demonstrated by those that live their and who are fighting their own way back, and partly because of the opportunity to see the truly good side of men, women and children who give of their own time and energy to reach out and help those who are truly in need.
When you think about New Orleans, you think about how man can really be.
When you think about Chapman, and Greensburg, you can't help but know, for a fact, how man can really be.
I'll take the heartland over the coasts any day.
Addendum: I was given a series of 60-some aerial pics of Chapman taken the day after the tornado by the County Emergency Preparedness people doing a damnage assessment and the following are a couple of interest to me. This first one is the creek approaching a farm where I conducted a brief nuisance hunt about 6 weeks ago. The farm in the upper middle is the cattleman that called me. he lost the house and all his buildings by a near direct hit. The coyote was laid up in the pasture to the left of the house and I called it and took it at about 400 yards.
The tornado came right across where I sat to make that stand and shot.
This picture shows the path of the tornado through Chapman, from SW to NE, with the pic being taken from just NE of town. Notice the dense trees in the upper right hand corner. Prior to the tornado, the entire town was cloaked in that kind of foliage.
It will take decades to restore those trees. ![[Frown]](frown.gif)
[ June 29, 2008, 11:51 AM: Message edited by: Cdog911 ]
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I am only one. But still, I am one. I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something; and, because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.
Posts: 5440 | From: The gun-lovin', gun-friendly wild, wild west | Registered: Jan 2003
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