The Extreme Weather Thread

[tantalum]

As Central posters and lurkers know we had a spot of bad weather down here on May 22 that did this.....


....to about 8000 homes and businesses in the city.

I was providing updates here and there and will do so right now but thought it might be a decent place for those extreme weather events and pics. If there was already a thread move it there.

-another person dies of wounds yesterday so the official death toll is 160 right now
-the deadline for the debris to be cleaned up by the army engineers and national guard is Aug 7 and it seems they will meet the target. After that the federal government stops paying 90% of the cost.
-people who did not chose to have the army engineers and nat guard clear the debris for $1000-2000 will be kicking themselves on Aug 8.
-building bans in some residential areas have been lifted (full utilities restores and all debris removed) so rebuilding is taking place.
-the large businesses are in the process of rebuilding (the Walmart that got split in half is rebuilding, the Home Depot that was destroyed, the Walgreen's is already up and working on the inside...)
-FEMA temporary housing will start having people move in next week or so. About 500 temporary units in a field by the airport that 2 weeks ago was grass but now is fully serviced for those 500 units.


Things are starting to turn back to normal which is nice to see.

Oh and it is hot as hell right now. Nearly 11 at night and the temp is still 38 Celsius.

[rats19]

You were in the walmart that morning then had lunch in a restaurant that blew aeay later in the day. You and son in sheltet, wife snd daughter at ywca. You never mentioned if you had communication with your wife during the storm..

[tantalum]

You were in the walmart that morning then had lunch in a restaurant that blew aeay later in the day. You and son in sheltet, wife snd daughter at ywca. You never mentioned if you had communication with your wife during the storm..

Yeah earlier in the day we were at that walmart and a restaurant nearby that actually fared reasonably well. It is not structurally sound but it was fully intact and the main window was fine...the picture I posted before that I thought was the restaurant was a strip mall kiddie corner to it. Wife and daughter were having dinner at JB Elephants which was right at the very edge of the south debris zone in that part of the city (a few blocks from the hospital that got destroyed). Had it been a Saturday they would have been in Chick-Fil-A which was in bad bad shape (was levelled but might be open in a few weeks)....the only time I was thankful that they were a christian organization that aren't open on Sunday (damn good chicken!). I can't imagine the death toll if it hit 4:30 on a weekday afternoon in that area as it destroyed all the Joplin schools and numerous medical offices and daycares.

I had cell phone contact before the storm so i knew they were in as good a shelter as they could be (interior bathroom of the restuarant in a strip mall). When I was in the storm shelter we had no signal. After the all clear we managed to get a quick call through to each other to know everyone was safe. The normally 10 minute drive home for her took about 75 minutes as she needed to find a way around debris and downed power lines etc. During that time we had no signal as we lost a bunch of cell phone towers to the tornado. Took us about 4 hours or something to get word back home in Alberta that were all OK.

[rats19]

Wow.. i wondered if you could talk to her....nightmare all around...i appreciate the sharing of this event tant.....makes me appreciate the not so summery summer we are having in the cariboo.

[Cornuck]

Thanks for the update - great news that the rebuilding has begun and that life can return to (close to) normal at some point.

In the past I've seen photos of areas hit by tornadoes, but only after seeing a town hit hard in person can you truly imagine the devastation. We've a couple come within a mile or two, but nothing like Joplin in this area for about 50 years.

Good luck with your progress.

[Uncle dans leg]

I spent last winter(summer here) in central coast Queensland during all the flooding then cyclone Yasi hit right after for good measure.

Absolutely terrifying.

The Bruce Highway was closed to the south and the north of us for weeks which meant the whole coast was out of food and it got pretty bad at the local grocery stores...some woman who was told she can only have one loaf of bread, threw the ones she wasn't allowed to buy on the floor and stomped them into nothing.

That night the cyclone hit was something I never want to experience again.

[Topper]

-the large businesses are in the process of rebuilding (the Walmart that got split in half is rebuilding, the Home Depot that was destroyed, the Walgreen's is already up and working on the inside...)

Odd the drug dealers are the first back into business

[tantalum]

tomorrow our forecast is calling for a high of 99 F (37.2 C). The sad part is that everyone is excited that it is going to be so cool. THe past week has been pretty brutal setting record highs...and not just daily record highs but highest temps since they started recording them high.

We've only had a handful of days below 100 F the last 6 or 7 weeks. All but one day above 95 deg since mid-June or something. That day was 89 F and we got a lot of rain which made the next day pretty much a sauna.

Guess I shouldn't complain but the kids are going stir crazy not being to go out in the afternoon.

[Blob Mckenzie]

Hey tant.........never got a chance to say I'm glad you and your posse made it through that .

Give your wife and kids an extra hug every night and count your lucky stars.

Peace bro.

[tantalum]

The other thing I'm thankful for is WalMart and I never expected myself to ever say that. We are about 50 miles from their GLOBAL head office in Bentonville, AR and from the first evening and continuing to this day they have been sending truck after truck full of supplies. It's WalMart country and they are taking care of their own.

The volunteering has also been awesome. Even today, they are turning back volunteers on a daily basis because they have so many. My wifes uncle is down for a visit, saw the devastation first hand on his first day and decided to spend the work hours of the past week re-wiring a young family's home for them (22 year old guy with a couple of kids with a wife in the hospital since the tornado).

[rats19]

its such a shame that the good in people are mainly shown in tough times..for the most part..but thanks GOD for them!!!

there are some truly awesomely inspiring people in this world....then there's the others..

rat

[tantalum]

weather bastards lied.....nearly 6 pm and it's 109 F (43 C).

[rats19]

weather bastards lied.....nearly 6 pm and it's 109 F (43 C).

Gleek plicks...

[tantalum]

A link to some before clean up and after clean up photos. The major part of the clean up done by the national guard and army corps engineers is finished. Most of what's left is rubble that people will need to deal with on their own (because they didn't pay the 1-2k for the government to do it), as well as a lot of the commercial buildings.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150404472891110.443279.762911109&type=1

[Cornuck]

^ Great link in your sig - thanks for sharing.

BTW Tant - Kings and Penguins in KC late September, you heading up for that?