Bad storms here - just had a tornado drill with my kids

momofmany

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I was driving home from work this evening and about a mile from my house, the weather got absolutely nasty. Strong winds, rain so hard that I slowed down to about 5 mph and still could barely see the road in front of me. Lightning struck the road next to me then the hail started pelting the car. The wind was blowing leaves off the trees and they were hitting my car as I drove. I pull into the driveway, run into the house, and ushered everyone into the basement. My heart has finally settled down a little bit.

I went thru a tornado in 2003. The signs of a coming tornado are heavy lightning, hail, strong winds, and debrie (such as the leaves) flying thru the air. You don't always see them coming when the rain is so strong that it blocks your view.

There's another small wave of storms coming in about 10 minutes, and a large wave that may come thru in about 30 minutes. The second one has serious damaging winds and looks like it could form tornadoes.

I'll be back later. Can't risk the computer on with all the lightning in this storm. Wish me luck in riding this out!
 

katachtig

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Good luck, Amy
I've been through two storms with tornadoes. One was in Nevada, MO and I didn't know there was a tornado near but the storm itself was horrific. The other was here and there was a siren. I grabbed the two cats who hated each other and spent the time in the basement.
 

pami

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Sending more vibes to you, Steve and the kitties
let us know when you can.
 

addiebee

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Michigan gets its fair share of tornadic activity so I KNOW your fear!!!!

Please -- be safe!!!!
 

kittymonsters

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I drove next to one in West Texas late at night once. I was in the middle of nowhere and stopped at the next town with a hotel. Turned on the weather channel and they showed the tornado I was driving next too. I thought I saw one in the lightening, but then talked myself into thinking I was being paranoid. Never again.

I have a friend in KC who I spoke to earlier today, those storms are wicked. It is going to be a rough night in OK, KS, MO. Please stay safe!
 

nurseangel

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We had one nearby last week when I was filling in at another prison. There was a terrible storm and I was terrified. Lightening was striking very close and had the inmates outside running for cover. Usually, they close the prison yard in the event of bad weather, but it came up so suddenly. Then an officer asked if the Lt. had called to tell us there was a tornado sighted in Blacksburg, SC. "No...no one called us. How far is that from here?" I asked. "About 15 miles," he replied. In the probably the worst tornado I ever experienced, my parents house sustained some minor flooding in the dining room and the only real damage was a tree uprooted in the backyard. "It really does sound like a train," was all I could think at the time. I felt very fortunate when it was over and all was well.

Stay safe. And please let us know when everything is back to normal.
 
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momofmany

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Close call, but the really bad storm cell stayed south of me, so now that the lightning has cut back and its at a distance, I'm feeling safe again. The all clear will be in another 90 minutes. We have a weather station at the house and the rainfall was coming at 3 inches an hour for a while. No wonder I couldn't see the road!

My large, heavy hibiscus plant that was on the patio flew across the yard and my metal hanging plant stand bent in half. It's too dark to see if we have any damage to the house (hope not) and I'll be surprised if we didn't lose more tree limbs in the back yard.

I think the lightning strike on the side of the road as I was driving was the scariest part of it. It hit the ground about 10 feet from the car. It made me try to remember how grounded a car is if it got struck directly by lightning. Rubber tires won't help on a direct hit (I think).

I'm calm now. Thanks for the vibes!!!!
 

kscatlady

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What county are you in, Amy? I'm in Sumner, but there's an alley right by my apartments and on the other side is Sedgwick. It didn't get too bad here. It looked pretty nasty though!!
 
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momofmany

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Originally Posted by kscatlady

What county are you in, Amy? I'm in Sumner, but there's an alley right by my apartments and on the other side is Sedgwick. It didn't get too bad here. It looked pretty nasty though!!
Johnson County. The storms crossed Topeka, then Lawrence, then hit Kansas City. It was a long string of storms that looked like they went from about mid Kansas to mid Missouri.

I was still at work around 4:30 and it was cloudy, but still fairly light outside. Then a bad cell hit close to 5 and it went black as night. I looked out the window to the south and it was much lighter sky there so I headed south out of the office. It was pretty clear until that last mile driving home when I drove right into another bad storm cell.
 

lil maggie

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Originally Posted by Momofmany

Johnson County. The storms crossed Topeka, then Lawrence, then hit Kansas City. It was a long string of storms that looked like they went from about mid Kansas to mid Missouri.

That would be me! Mid Missouri!
The night before last 4 tornados were spotted, 3 touched down and did major damage killing 3 people and injuring others. With it was large hail, and lots of power outages. I'm not that far from the areas hit. Right now we're getting some severe off and on again storms and will be tomorrow too. I'm going to go hide!

Glad to hear you're all safe there!
 
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momofmany

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Originally Posted by lil maggie


That would be me! Mid Missouri!
The night before last 4 tornados were spotted, 3 touched down and did major damage killing 3 people and injuring others. With it was large hail, and lots of power outages. I'm not that far from the areas hit. Right now we're getting some severe off and on again storms and will be tomorrow too. I'm going to go hide!

Glad to hear you're all safe there!
And how did you fair overnight? The storms are completely gone now and I'm going out in a bit to pick up everything that got blown around.
 

captiva

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Glad to hear you are O.K., Amy. You must have been scared to death driving in that! I always shuffle my crew to the as soon as I hear a Severe TStorm Warning issued because as you know it doesn't take much for that to turn into a Tornado Warning sometimes. It had calmed down by the time it reached Indiana but THE RAIN!!! I had never seen it rain so hard. I think the bridge must be closed down the road this morning because there is absolutely no traffic on my road .
 

lil maggie

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Originally Posted by Momofmany

And how did you fair overnight? The storms are completely gone now and I'm going out in a bit to pick up everything that got blown around.
Survived the storm! Thanks for asking!!


Those were some severe Tstorms with winds from 45 to 65mph that ripped through here! You're in Kansas so we generally get whatever you do! Today there's a lot of tree limbs down all over - thankfully not on any power lines and other than looking for my empty yard waste can and picking up blown over chairs we were lucky

Storms terrify me! The weather channel predicted more storms for today but the storms passed through quickly and are gone. It's BEAUTIFUL here today!


I went thru a tornado also so when I hear there are warnings or severe Tstorms, I panic!
 
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