Well, that was... interesting...

[altivo]

We just had a close pass by a real tornado here. We've been on a watch since 2:00 pm (still on until 9:00 pm) and at 3:30 the sirens went off and the weather service issued a take cover warning for Harvard.

It is really, really hard to get people to cooperate. The library was not very crowded fortunately, but getting them into the shelter zone was like herding cats. I stayed by the phone, and when the police called to tell us to get people in, I could say they were all in there. However, more kept coming in the door. It was an argument with each one. "Can't I just renew my books first?" "Oh, I'll just go back home, it's only a little ways..." "I just want to use the computer, that should be OK..."

The tornado was in fact on the ground, and passed north of us. I saw the wall cloud, but not the funnel. One teen who came in during the heavy rain said he had seen the funnel go by. We got a brief burst of hail and then the lights went out for a few seconds. The all clear came five minutes later.

The amazing thing is how stubborn people are about denying that there is anything happening. "Oh, looks fine to me." An ex mayor of the town lives just on the other side of our parking lot. I watched him putting his trash can out by the curb in the wind and rain and all. Incredible.

Temperatures here today are in the 60s F. A week ago we were descending into the subzero range. Wednesday we have snow predicted again. The weather is definitely out of whack.

(First unofficial reports say the tornado did indeed pass through the north side of town on the ground. No idea right now how much damage there was or if anyone was hurt.)

[Edit: Forgot to mention the idiotic phone call. I had just reassured the police sergeant that we were getting everyone into the shelter when the phone rang again. The caller claimed to be with CNN and said they had severe weather reported near us and wanted to know if we could see a funnel cloud. I told him we had people in the shelter and hung up on him. Damned sensationalists looking for a news story by distracting us from serious emergency issues...

Earliest damage reports indicate buildings damaged in Poplar Grove, which is about ten or twelve miles west of the library. A truck was blown off the US highway and overturned about two miles north of us, and a freight train derailed by the wind and at least one car tipped over just outside of town. At home there seemed to have been some rain but nothing else, not even tree branches down that I could see. The tornado went on into Wisconsin and did damage in Kenosha County, but no details yet.]

Comments

[mymaimary.livejournal.com]

I hope no one was hurt. Glad to hear that you and your animals are alright. The weather seems strange.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Alas, I don't know about the animals, but the storm passed north of the library and my farm is 15 miles south, so probably only some rain hit there if that. I'll find out when I get home 30 minutes from now.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Everything is fine at home. Apparently not even a lot of rain hit here.

[tinbender.livejournal.com]

I'm not surprised that there are tornados about. There was(are) a couple of warning a few counties south of here as well. With the warm humid weather and the thunderstorms brewing, it's almost a given (at least here in Kansas).

As far as the people that don't comprehend tornado warnings, I guess that's where Darwin comes in. I can understand not taking shelter if you're paying attention to the weather, know exactly where they're talking about, and have shelter close at hand, but when they don't even know there's a warning? Morons.

[avon-deer.livejournal.com]

I was just about to post the same thing. It seems that people will do anything other than an emergency inconvenience their lives, even for a short while.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Evolution in action, I guess. But I don't want to watch someone being squashed by a tree or blown clear to Kansas if I can help it. (Or give their attorney a chance to sue me for not trying to stop them.)

[quickcasey.livejournal.com]

Pleasepost when you get home, (If you have power.) And let us know if everything is okay.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

All is well at home, not even a lot of rain here apparently. Preliminary damage reports for near work are added to the main post above.

[gabrielhorse.livejournal.com]

*chuckles* You're right, that is interesting- if I had to peg myself amoung this group, I'd be the guy coming in out of the rain- I've been in the midst of two severe storms like that in RL anyway :P

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Well after the all clear, when I was restarting computers that died in the power flicker, the same kid stood behind me and tried to convince me that we should have Macintoshes or else Windows Vista. I was about ready to toss him out in the rain then.

[jmaynard.livejournal.com]

Well, you should have Macs. That said, I'd have tossed him out on his ear; his sense of timing sucked.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

No I shouldn't have Macs. They are far too expensive for my budget and I hate managing them. ;p (Been there, done that.)

Yeah... cool kid :P

[gabrielhorse.livejournal.com]

Awesome! Yeah, that's me alright- argumentative to the core...I don't know squat about computers- and you're one of the coolest people I know- but hypothetically if you were trying to argue with me about anime, I wouldn't stop needling you until you either blew up or crumbled. You'd be soo pissed you'd probably want to physically throw me out of your library :P

Re: Yeah... cool kid :P

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I don't pretend to know much about anime other than that I haven't seen any I liked.

Computers, however, I know a fair bit about. I've been making a living off them since long before that kid was born. If his Windows Vista is as great as he wanted to make me believe it is, why did he need to come to the library and use my Linux machines?

;p

Re: Yeah... cool kid :P

[gabrielhorse.livejournal.com]

Heh, got me... though the fact he was walking in the rain probably doesn't say much for his financial situation, does it?

Re: Yeah... cool kid :P

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I'd say it doesn't tell us much one way or another. He was as well dressed as I expect of a high school kid, which in essence means you can't tell. His shoes were pretty new. His clothes were clean and not ragged. It was clear that he had a computer at home with Windows Vista on it from the way he talked about it, that he had done this and done that and upgraded this and that.

Re: Yeah... cool kid :P

[gabrielhorse.livejournal.com]

Hmm... kind of sounds like he wanted someone to talk to... or at, if you get the meaning.

[jairus-greywolf.livejournal.com]

I'm glad the rough stuff missed you. I woke up to a thunderstorm this morning. Very strange weather indeed. Now the fog is back :/

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I thought I was hearing thunder all afternoon. Turned out that our weather alert radio had been messed with and was on the wrong channel, so we almost didn't get the warning.

[marzolan.livejournal.com]

When I was younger a tornado ripped most of the roof off the apartment complex we were living in, and a few years back my grandmother lost nearly everything she owned when one destroyed her trailer and nearly killed her by sending a tree branch through a window in the house she was in at the time. Thankfully she wasn't in the trailer and the window was double paned. The door that hit her was minor compared to what damage could have been done. So I respect the raw power those things have.

*sighs* People treat sever weather like that here too... it's foolish, absolutely foolish. You'd think after so many were killed by a huge one that everyone in this area still talks about, they'd be mroe aware and careful. But hey, if people want to do their best to remove themselves and their contributions of stupidity from the world and their genes from the pool, why should I stop them? I'll be the first into the shelter thanks, unless my loved ones are in danger, in which case they go first.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I've been close to two or three in the past, when I lived in Michigan. This is the first really close pass since I moved to Illinois 30 years ago. I've certainly seen the amazing level of destruction they can cause. These are not storms to play games with.

[marzolan.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, too few people get that.

[schnee.livejournal.com]

*wiggles his ears* I'd probably just let nature take its course and hand out a few Darwin awards afterwards. c.c

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Getting yourself killed is so easy I really don't think it deserves awards, even posthumously. ;p

[schnee.livejournal.com]

The award is not for getting killed, though... it's for being mindboggingly stupid, and for removing yourself from the gene pool and not passing on your stupidity. :)

That must have been scary

[vimsig.livejournal.com]

Your title reminds me of the similar line uttered by Lytton Strachey after he was rolled for being a homosexual.

My icon is representative of the pond nearby - lovely

Re: That must have been scary

[altivo.livejournal.com]

At least it wasn't Oscar Wilde's last words: "Either that wallpaper goes or I do." ;p

Re: That must have been scary

[vimsig.livejournal.com]

hee - good call!

Stay safe and keep warm

[shadow-stallion.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear you guys weathered the storm ok. Odd that people around there would take such a relaxed atittude towards the warning sirens.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

It's a novelty. We get tornado watches fairly often here in spring and summer, but an actual warning is not at all common. I'm sure many reacted to the sirens with a "What's that? I never heard that before."

They've all seen those videos on television that people take of funnel clouds passing and so forth, and they want to see it or be the one to get on television with their own photos. It's like something that happens in movies or a game, it's not real. If they get killed, they expect to regenerate with a puff of orange smoke.

There are photos in this morning's papers. Several funnels did touch down, the train and truck wrecks were very real, and the train derailment caused a chemical spill and subsequent evacuation. I'll probably post a link to the news stories later this morning. The actual funnel that went through Harvard passed just about two miles from us, but appears not to have been one of those really tight powerful ones. Still, tornadoes in January are extremely rare here. The last officially recorded one was in 1950 or 51, apparently.

[saythename.livejournal.com]

That you spurned the media during a crises makes me respect you more.

As for "Oh its just a tornado!" I've seen that before. @.@

When I was in the Army there was a tornado that jumped over the base
and destroyed the two small towns on either side (which we, from the
base spent weeks cleaning up). I was in the barracks with a Seargent
and the sky suddenly turned green and the little trees out
front whipped over like care antennae on a formula one and the doors
started slamming themselves closed from the wind and he said;

"Hmm, I have a tree in my front yard, I should drive home"

@.@

ITS A TORNADO! YOUR GOING TO DIE! HIDE!

*facepaws*

I hate to say it but this is why the average IQ of the human
race keeps creeping upwards.

The people driving home by Tornado's keep getting their
idiot genes snipped from the gene pool.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Except I think the average IQ is dropping because smart people don't have as many children.

The media thing was just plain stupid. I can't believe they have the gall to interrupt people while there's an emergency going on. If they called this morning we might talk to them but of course they are off chasing ambulances somewhere else by now.

The village of Lawrence, which shares a border with Harvard and is just northwest of the library, is still evacuated. The train derailment took place there and there's a tank car filled with something awful that is posing a serious hazard. The police said this morning that people may have to stay out of their homes until Thursday or Friday, which I'm sure is not setting well. The Red Cross is in town flying their banners and the whole bit.

[saythename.livejournal.com]

I hope it works out, I think it will, I have
faith in everyday people that go out and do
extraordinary things to keep the rest of us safe.

As for the media expecting you to go out and
get a camera shot of cars sucked into a funnel...

Feh.

>.<

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

Its a pity you couldn't let them go out and get swept away...might get rid of some of the cretins. Glad you're okay and that you tried your best to look after others :)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Turned out to have been a fairly bad one, actually. And yes, some of these people deserve to be blown into Oz... except then you'd have them. ;p

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

We don't want em, they'll be the ones who get swept away when trying to cross flooded roads.