Tornados in the Midwest, a bit of information from someone who was in the heart of the storms.

I have to make this very quick due to my phone being almost dead and no way to charge it so sorry for the grammar.

as you probably read, tornados ripped through the Midwest today at about 12-3 pm roughly.

First and foremost, and seeing the damage firsthand, my prayers go out to everyone affected. A co-worker of mines aunt lost their new house and everything and their wedding was yeaterday, and that's only a tiny portion.

I live about 10 miles away from where the most of the damage happened. The town that got hit hard is called Washington Illinois, and driving through there almost everyday, it's almost un recognizable in some places.

I've heard reports that a power generator was completely destroyed and that power will be out for the SURRONDING area for a few days.

I also work at a grocery store, and just today alone we lost nearly all of our meat and frozen products and i can see a vast majority of the food being spoiled by the team the power kicks back on.

I'm sorry for the poorly written post, but I'm trying to conserve energy and battery life on everything.

The area I live in experienced a large F5 tornado years back that leveled a steel mill named parsons, but this is one of the first times an actual residency has taken the main blow from Mother Nature.

It's pretty surreal because I've read of the 'power grid shutdown excercises' evidently happening around this time, and I'll be the first to say, a 'shtf' scenario would not be fun and it's not what Hollywood says it is.

I hope all those affected have shelter for the night, I know local colleges are offering shelter so reach out if you've been affected.

Today has been a dark day for the Midwest.

reply to post by RomeByFire


Stay safe and keep everyone else safe! Good luck..

reply to post by RomeByFire

There are some photos, and a video here. Sounds like there may have been one or more people killed, but no confirmation on that yet. Lets hope that is wrong.

Found some clips on YT:


Not looking good for that area.

The storm line is very severe and causing a lot of damage. As of now, 2 people have been killed, and the town of Washington, Illinois is destroyed. I feel badly for everyone dealing with this,...keep safe!

reply to post by RomeByFire

God bless thanks for posting, many prayers

Reports are that SCORES of tornadoes touched down. One of the neighborhoods in Washington, Illinois, a housing tract of half million dollar homes, is just simply gone as far as the eye can see.

This isn't even tornado season...

reply to post by RomeByFire


Glad you're ok! I just read "More than 60 tornadoes had been reported throughout the region" Unreal.

Staroth
reply to post by RomeByFire

 

Glad you're ok! I just read "More than 60 tornadoes had been reported throughout the region" Unreal.

edit on 17-11-2013 by Staroth because: (no reason given)

Wow! More then 60! Geez.....that's a lot of tornadoes for being off season....hearts, thoughts & prayers go out to all those effected.....good luck...O, & TY for the update OP. 👍

reply to post by RomeByFire


We got hammered. This sucks!

Prayers to everyone else.

reply to post by RomeByFire


Can you explain to me an European, why do people living in an high intensity Tornado/Hurricane area still build homes in what seems to be paper derivatives or at best wood and plaster houses ?

We have small tornadoes in Europe but most of the damage is only to roofs and caused by trees and debris... in any case climate change signifies higher energy accumulation in the atmosphere so this types of things will only become stronger and more common.

reply to post by KawRider9

Are the phones and cell towers working in Peoria? A friend has relatives there, and she can't reach them. She's very worried.

Panic2k11
reply to post by RomeByFire

 

Can you explain to me an European, why do people living in an high intensity Tornado/Hurricane area still build homes in what seems to be paper derivatives or at best wood and plaster houses ?

We have small tornadoes in Europe but most of the damage is only to roofs and caused by trees and debris... in any case climate change signifies higher energy accumulation in the atmosphere so this types of things will only become stronger and more common.

edit on 17-11-2013 by Panic2k11 because: (no reason given)

You put any house in the path of 60-some tornado's and see what happens to it. Either way, these are real people who's real lives have been effected and I think your comment is somewhat immature and insensitive to people who's homes, belongings, pets, loved ones are lost.

That being said, it is an event of biblical proportions. Never in my life have I heard of over 60 tornado's touching down around the same area, and out of season to boot.

I hope these people are getting the support and help they need.

Panic2k11
reply to post by RomeByFire

 

Can you explain to me an European, why do people living in an high intensity Tornado/Hurricane area still build homes in what seems to be paper derivatives or at best wood and plaster houses ?

We have small tornadoes in Europe but most of the damage is only to roofs and caused by trees and debris... in any case climate change signifies higher energy accumulation in the atmosphere so this types of things will only become stronger and more common.

edit on 17-11-2013 by Panic2k11 because: (no reason given)

These weren't paper houses, they were well built homes. When the wind is strong enough to literally rip the bark off of the trees, peel the grass of the ground, and throw horses up on top of 3 story hospitals miles and miles away, a house just doesn't stand a chance. The problem is that once a corner of the roof lifts off, the walls no longer have anything to sustain their stability, the whole structure twists and collapses.

An f-4 tornado has winds of 260 miles an hour, moving in a large circle, causing suction and updraft, and at times more than a mile wide, with lesser winds extending in every direction for a larger area.

reply to post by Vortiki


First I was not being intensive but I have the benefit of distance, in any case had I the choice I would avoid settling in any area that offered danger (like a flood basin or a tornado region) and if I was by circumstance forced to do so I would take precautions towards my safety. My question was pertinent, since I sincerely do not understand why people construct the way they do in those regions, except of course due to economic reasons, like in the Philippines, even so there those storms does not occur as suddenly as in the US. As an example we could look on how Japan also creates safer emergency buildings, like reinforced schools to face earthquakes and tsunamis...

Panic2k11
reply to post by Vortiki

 

First I was not being intensive but I have the benefit of distance, in any case had I the choice I would avoid settling in any are that offered danger (like a flood basin or a tornado region) and if I was by circumstance forced to do so I would take precautions towards my safety. My question was pertinent, since I sincerely do not understand why people construct the way they do in those regions, except of course due to economic reasons, like in the Philippines, even so there those storms does not occur as suddenly as in the US. As an example we could look on how Japan also creates safer emergency buildings, like reinforced schools to face earthquakes and tsunamis...

I didn't think you were, but I don't think people realize how widespread these outbreaks can be, and the fact that they can hit anywhere in the country. There is nowhere on the planet that doesn't offer some sort of natural disaster risk. The houses you see in these pictures aren't shoddy construction. It might look like they were made of matchsticks, but the hardest hit areas today were upper middle class well built houses. Most of the new homes built in my area have Hurricane braces on the roof and extra attachments to the foundation, and many also have basements or storm shelters to keep the people safe. I can't confirm that this is true where the outbreak occured today, but I would assume it to be true.

reply to post by gluetrap

a house just doesn't stand a chance. The problem is that once a corner of the roof lifts off, the walls no longer have anything to sustain their stability, the whole structure twists and collapses. An f-4 tornado has winds of 260 miles an hour, moving in a large circle, causing suction and updraft, and at times more than a mile wide, with lesser winds extending in every direction for a larger area.

I'm sorry but I do not believe that. A properly constructed brick and mortar house (even better cement, like they are constructed in most of Europe) with good foundations will not succumb so easily or generate so many dangerous derbies.

I have seen images of many tornado devastations and can clearly see that better constructed edifices do survive (with damage but they are still standing). Then there is the issue regarding the way urbanization is made, they put those eggshell houses in the middle of a clear area, this is great for fire prevention since the construction is mostly wood, but it is well understood that the best way to control wind is to use trees (even if they can be dangerous, good planning will permit some control of the wind), one can clearly notice that the devastated areas are plains, and tornado form in-land on clear areas, like agricultural areas and even roads.

In European style urbanization houses are built near each-other forming barriers to the wind, even in most rural areas. Rarely are they wood construction (not for permanent habitation), Note also that brick and mortar house are more in the UK, mostly the rest of Europe use armed cement for the support structure and cement over ceramic blocks for walls, houses also tend to be more compact so in case the roof comes off (rarely if the structure is maintained) the concavity created will not create so much pressure differential. The roofing used is also done mostly using overlapping ceramic tiles making it hard to desegregate easily by wind, it forms a compact larger structure where each tile adds compression to the next row, ultimately creating a partial arc that puts the pressure on the outside structure...

My kids had reign of the computer all day so I'm only finding out about this now! I am so sorry this happened, my heart goes out to all those effected... and it seems like there were a LOT of people effected! This is just devastating, you are all in my thoughts.

Unfortunately I feel this is not over for the Earth, we are in for some really rough roads ahead. Please EVERYONE pay attention! Now is the time to prepare in whatever way you can for a SHTF scenario coming to a neighborhood near you, game on! This isn't doom porn, THIS IS HAPPENING!!!!

reply to post by RomeByFire


Wow, what an amazing and tragic personal account!

Your OP clearly shows the immediate issues that could pressure anyone of us if we were in a similar situation!

I watched the videos supplied by other members and the destruction is astounding.

I wish you and yours the best during this crisis!

If you look at the path of the one that went through Coal city, it avoided the densely populated towns around Joliet.A mere 25 miles to the North and there would have been a lot more devastation. The areas that were hit are small towns. There's also nuclear power plant very close to were tornado hit which no one talked about so I assume it avoid any damage.

So it was bad but it could have been a 100 times worse.

reply to post by Panic2k11


You would have to have a house made of nothing but concrete to not be completely wiped off the foundation in the path of an F4 or F5 tornado. Bricks wouldn't do any good. It would have to be built without corners or edges too. No windows. Just a concrete sphere. Then you might make it.
As to why people build here? There is no where in the U.S. that isn't prone to floods, earthquakes, wildfires, blizzards, hurricanes, tornadoes.. nowhere is exempt.. why do you think we're so crazy?