Tornado Missed me by 1/4 Mile

edatlanta · 01-23-2012, 09:10 AM

My home base is in central Alabama and we had a tornado went through here about 5:00am this morning. I had left my 5'er and went to the town shelter so I was safe, but the shelter was right under the path of the tornado and a very large tree fell on the shelter. All 100 people in the shelter were fine, but that steel tube made a heck of a noise when the tree hit. My 5'er dodged all damage and I only have one dent in the hood of my pickup. Others in the area aren't so lucky. No word yet on injuries but power is out to the entire town - except at Ed's. Now I know why I have a generator and plenty of hot coffee.

**Crabman** · 01-23-2012, 10:29 AM

Wow, that was a close call. Glad to hear everyone is OK.

Seann45 · 01-23-2012, 10:32 AM

Glad your safe Ed.....
My neighbors HATE

me when there is a power outage... I go out to the RV fire up the solar system... watch TV, make popcorn,,, make coffee, have a HOT supper.... and of course to do all this I have to pull the RV out onto the front street....:hihi:

Rob_Fla · 01-23-2012, 01:01 PM

Wow Ed, that was a close one, glad you are ok.

dg1971 · 01-23-2012, 01:10 PM

Living in "Tornado Alley" all my life, I know how you felt, Ed. Glad you are OK. I read about those storms this morning....bad stuff!

Denise · 01-23-2012, 01:24 PM

How frightening that must have been. Glad all is well for you. I wonder how other JOF members in your region fared with the different storms going through....

maromeo · 01-23-2012, 02:34 PM

Glad you are safe. It is great that you do have a generator for you morning cup of copy.

edatlanta · 01-23-2012, 03:04 PM

Several of the local police as well as power company employees and various volunteers stopped by for a cup as well. The word spread rapidly and that was OK with me.
Still no power to part of town, but they are working rapidly.

Larry G. · 01-23-2012, 04:15 PM

Good to hear you are OK.

Lucky to have a shelter to get into.

jim44646 · 01-23-2012, 06:32 PM

They were showing photos on the news tonight of the tornado damage in central Alabama. You are lucky to be OK. You need a larger coffee pot also one for hot chocolate

SecretCoveDave · 01-23-2012, 07:21 PM

Glad you are well! I know the responders appreciate a cup of joe.
Dave

clutch · 01-23-2012, 08:44 PM

I am glad that you are ok. A storm like that in a trailer would not be good. At least you have power now that the strom is over. Generators are nice to have.

Rustic Eagle · 01-23-2012, 09:26 PM

Tornado's are nothing to mess with, good move heading for a secure shelter.

We had a good thunder storm last night with some winds, and temps today were close to 50 degrees, starting to cool down again this evening.

Crazy weather this winter.

Bob

Terry · 01-23-2012, 11:26 PM

Glad you guys are fine....we spent part of the night with the sirens going off and the kids hunkered down. We don't have basements here so we camp in the closet.....

Our siren is about 100 yards from my house so there is no missing it!

edatlanta · 01-24-2012, 11:55 AM

Here is what the shelter looked like with the tree on it. There was a smaller tree that fell across the other end, but both hits were loud and the entire shelter shook enough to knock cell phones off of the benches.

On a positive note, my satellite dish on it's tripod 1/4 mile away never moved. I should have stayed in my 5'er, but I didn't know that at the time.

Larry G. · 01-24-2012, 12:43 PM

How many can the shelter hold?

Is it specific for campground people?

edatlanta · 01-24-2012, 05:10 PM

Larry, I am at my home base and it is a community shelter for the town. It is rated for about 100, but there were approx 130 in it when the tornado hit.

**Crabman** · 01-24-2012, 05:12 PM

I saw the damage from some of those tornadoes and it was terrible.

David472 · 03-02-2012, 09:05 AM

I know this thread is over a month old, but I got thinking about weather events today. Edatlanta’s story of the close encounter is one many of us may have experienced. It brought to mind a couple events in this area. Two years ago, a large funnel cloud passed directly over our house. It touched down a quarter mile away and was judged to be an F-1 tornado. The hail coming down on us was golf ball size and larger and lasted for a full 10 minutes. It filled my car with dents, and damaged the roof singles to the point they had to be replaced. Where it touched down was a park area, but a few houses adjacent had roof partially torn off and many trees down in the area. Some 30 odd years ago, there was an F-4 tornado pass within a half mile of where the DW was living at the time. Several people perished in that one. There have been many other damaging events in this general area over the years, but those were as close as we want to get to a tornado. I have a great respect for what mother nature can throw at us, but I don’t fear it. Best to stay calm and clear headed. Our local tornado season runs from late May to early September. Let’s hope for a few less tornados this season.

Phar0e · 03-02-2012, 09:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by healthi

How frightening that must have been. Glad all is well for you. I wonder how other JOF members in your region fared with the different storms going through....

Was wondering the same thing about the tornados that hit recently. Adding all to daily prayers for safety. Seems like tornado activity is early this year. Hope it does not mean anything!

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