OT: PAGING GUNUG!!!

[chriskleeman]

Hey gunug,

I'm hoping that this terrible weather that has been ravaging Kansas and the Midwest hasn't affected you!

Please post and let us know if everything is ok.

Thanx,

Chris K  

[gunug]

So far, we haven't been too close to it.  I saw a funnel cloud from about 15-18 miles away as it hung over an area near Baldwin, Ks.  The worse hit is Greensburg, Ks which, as you can see in these pictures borrowed from our local paper, was pretty much destroyed entirely (This tornado was the first ever 5 on the new Enhanced Fujita scale):





 

10 have been killed in Kansas this weekend I read, 8 in Greensburg.  Seems like I'm not the only one who thinks were being picked on:

QUOTE

“To have this many significant tornadoes is tremendously unusual,” said Larry Ruthi, meteorologist in Dodge City.

 The Federal government has declared this a disaster area but the state is having trouble getting the Guard in to help because most of their equipment is in Iraq.  

The much more minor impact for us has been the Eagle Project we're working on for my younger son.  We were trying to clean up a blighted area at the school that houses my office and now there is a pond in the middle of the area we had cleaned up and seeded with grass on Saturday.  I've got to see if I can figure out a way to get a bunch of dirt into the pond without damaging any of the seeded area if I can help it.  I was thinking of "pumping" dirt using a shop vac and a long pipe; but it's probably just a pipe dream!  Oh, I didn't intend a pun!

I researched the new Enhanced Fujita scale and found this at the WIBW website:

QUOTE

Enter the Enhanced Fujita Scale.

The scale still has six levels, EF 0 through EF 5. Here is a chart of the new EF Scale and the approximate wind speeds.

RATING: Approx. Wind Speed

EF0 >85 MPH
EF1 86-110 MPH
EF2 111-135 MPH
EF3 136-165 MPH
EF4 166-200 MPH
EF5 >200 MPH

A second advantage that the Enhanced Fujita Scale has over the old F Scale is that it takes into account damage to vegetation. In the past if a tornado ripped across a cow pasture it may have only been rated a F1 because it didn't cause any damage. While if this tornado had gone through a town or city it may have caused damage and been a F3. With the EF scale a tornado should have the same rating no matter where it tracks.

My dad was a meteorologist and studied at the University of Oklahoma under Fujita who was there then.  That original scale has been around for 50 years so it was probably due for an upgrade.  

I have seen 5 tornados/funnels in my life now; none of them very closely luckily!  I think the worse I ever saw was at least 10 miles away and was only a 2 on the old Fujita scale.

[Gregg]

Same exact picture was in our paper. Must be taken from the penthouse of the 20 story five star hotel in town.

I sure hope there aren't any folks buried in all that rubble. The news here had a story about a kitten found alive in the debris. A young girl rescued it, and said she would name it Twister.

They say they want to rebuild. It is the county seat, so they need someplace for local government to function out of.

Just such devastation! It's heartbreaking to listen to survivors talk about what they lost. At least the media here didn't show any "interviews" with people who lost loved ones. They need their privacy. So sad.

[jwboyd]

Many of the survivors are being sheltered and fed in the town of Haviland, ten miles east of Greensburg. Haviland is home to tiny Barclay College ( http://barclaycollege.edu ), where I earned my first Bachelors degree in 1952. I was issued my first Kansas drivers license at the Kiowa County courthouse in Greensburg.

We have not heard of/from any of our friends/acquaintances in the area who were directly affected by the tornado, other than those who are assisting victims. There is a tremendous need for compassionate assistance of all kinds.

[gunug]

A friend with the Red Cross is getting together a team and a truck to go.  They're collecting money and such up at KU and in Lawrence.  People in Topeka, where I am right now, have long memories and always seem to help other places after all the help they got after the 1966 Burnett's Mound tornado (16 killed, $100 million in damage, old Fujita scale F5).

[jwboyd]

I had some connection with the 1966 Topeka tornado also. I did my Masters at Washburn University by taking summer classes for a few years. 1966 was my next-to-last year of doing that.

The tornado occurred on Wednesday, and Washburn's summer session was to begin the next Monday. Several of the buildings were severely damagved--so much so that the campus was not usable. The private home where I had rented a room in previous years was across the street north of the campus, and it was destroyed. Classes were conducted at Topeka's West High School.

[gunug]

My father was working in the Severe Storms Forcast Center in K.C. MO when the Burnett's Mound tornado was occuring; I don't recall if he was actually on duty then though.  Anyway about a week after it happened he was at work when his high school girlfriend came into the office with her Super-8 movie of the tornado and a projector.  She was so proud of herself that she stood outside in the face of the tornado and filmed it; she was also dumbfounded when my dad chewed her out for being stupid enough to do that! He also didn't have much use for storm chasers; he thought it was stupid enough when meteorology students did it but really stupid when people did it for a challenge or a thrill.

[Bbob]

If anyone would like to see more pictures of the devastation, go to:
http://www.kansas.com/
the home page of the Wichita Eagle newspaper. Look under "More Tornado Coverage." The term "total destruction" means something when you see what happened in Greensburg. The site may require registration, but there is no charge.

I'm in the lower right corner of Kansas and, fortunately, we haven't had really bad weather--just heavy rains thus far.

[chriskleeman]

Glad to hear that you Kansas folks are ok. Pretty scary stuff. I grew up in Ohio close to a town called Xenia that suffered a devastating F4 or F5 years ago... leveled the entire west 1/2 of town.

Chris K

[dboh]

QUOTE(gunug @ May 7 2007, 10:54 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

He also didn't have much use for storm chasers; he thought it was stupid enough when meteorology students did it but really stupid when people did it for a challenge or a thrill.

They ran a video on the news this weekend of stormchasers chasing a tornado in Oklahoma. At one point, it turned and headed directly towards them! They slammed into reverse and narrowly avoided being hit.

There was an even scarier video some 15-20 years ago. I think it was in Kansas or Missouri.  Some people took cover under a highway overpass. The tornado came right at them and passed overhead, jumping onto the highway just above them. The people were holding onto cement columns and were practicly hanging on sideways. The noise was horrendous. (I still can't believe someone had the presence of mind to hold the video camera steady.) It literallly gave me nightmares.

They ought to make meterology students watch stuff like this before they go out chasing storms.

[gunug]

dboh -

QUOTE

There was an even scarier video some 15-20 years ago. I think it was in Kansas or Missouri. Some people took cover under a highway overpass.

Yep, I think the one you're talking about might have been the 1991 Andover Tornado and this "might" be the video you were talking about:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=vx-Eos-DKeM&...ted&search=

I can't be sure because Youtube is blocked here at work so I can't see it right now!

[dboh]

It could be that tornado, but the video I'm remembering was shot from underneath the highway. The people were standing in what seemed to be a small gulley.

[gunug]

Dboh - This is more likely the one (now that I'm home):

http://youtube.com/watch?v=9JadCAxtrO0

Here's some of the 1966 Topeka Tornado:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBKujdiObos&NR=1

[dboh]

That's the one!  

I was certainly wrong about the gully, but I definitely remember those voices. I don't know how people survive something like that.

[Gregg]

The experts used to advise getting out of your car and getting down to the lowest point possible if you see a tornado approaching. Now, they say you can out run it. This of course assumes that you're on a road that will take you in a direction away from the tornado's path, or can quickly get to one!

That Kansas monster was put in perspective by our local weatherman. The thing was 1.7 mi. wide* where it touched down (not at the top) and stayed on the ground for 22 miles. That would have wiped out downtown Milwaukee, and travelled to Racine! (*At Wisconsin Avenue; from the lake to Marquette - for those who know Milwaukee.)