ahhhh...nothing like a little Jimmy...
Yeah we had a little storm move through last night...and no...we didn't see anything but a little rain, hail, and high pressure moving to lower pressure quickly through the trees.
I sent an email to someone very close who was concerned as to the proximity of The Kingdom to Harm's Way and i'll use it as blogfodder today...
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...Actually, Lone Grove is about an hours drive east of us (though i do have a niece in Healdton). That storm was not really a part of the one that came through here. It had put a tornado on the ground down north of Graham,TX and was certainly capable of doing it again...and it did. i do feel sorry for the folks that lost family or property, but if you live here you gotta watch the weather stations in the spring and summer. Stuff can be replaced...your life can't. If we are threatened, which is VERY rare (once since The Queen and i set up Kingdom), we just move at right angles to the path of the storm (i.e. if the storm is moving NE like last night, we move SE) you just get out of the way. Its much like standing in the street with a tractor trailor coming at you, that you can see from miles away. Get in your car and get the #%@& out of harm's way....its really pretty simple. Now, that said, when storms sneak up on ya late at night, one should have a storm shelter handy. But that one last night...there was PLENTY of time to get out of the way. The weather stations have the equipment now to tell you when, where, and how hard a tornado is going to hit your home and i really do mean one's home...within the minute. If you live in a trailer (which i have) in OK...you're just rolling the dice...if you're living in a trailer in a trailer park...i wouldn't advise hitting the craps tables on the Strip anytime soon. Trailer= tornado magnet. Trailer Park= Tornado Electromagnet. Although i would agree that anything over an F3 and it don't really matter if its brick/stone, sheet metal, or cardboard...its going to find the Yellow Brick Road at some point.
People who don't live around tornado's don't really understand them much, they really aren't that big, even the F4 and F5's are a mile to a mile and a half wide at most, of course within that space not much stays the same. Hurricanes, tidal waves, earthquakes, volcanoes...those things are just wicked freaky to me, they destroy huge areas all at once. I don't have to leave my country, my state, my county, or my city to get away from a tornado...just step aside and let'er blow on by. i would venture to say that you guys are way more likely to have a huge death toll from a blizzard than we are from a tornado. In fact, i would step out on this cracked limb and say that more people are killed every year by snow related deaths in CO than are by tornado's in OK.
So, i always laugh when people's eyes widen at the statement that we live in OK and they ask..."Aren't you scared of tornado's?" And they live in...Florida (and no Bou,that is not directed at you.) Yup, of the natural disasters listed...i'll take an impish twister ANY day over one of those foul demon lords.
Honestly, after living in and around here for 41 years...i can still count on one hand how many i've actually SEEN live and in color. I've been close yes, but never close enough to actually be concerned. My brother cannot say the same, he lost his entire house once. So, its not like i haven't been touched, however distantly.
And may the Lord continue His Mercy on us and those we love.
6 comments:
yep! April 26th 1991 was a day I'll probably never forget. Six twisters danced across three states and directly into the home where I was staying. Yes, it was a Wizard of Oz story, yes it picked up the "modular home" and yes my roomie was inside the house!
I still have artifacts with mud stains on them - almost 20 years later! The house was obliterated. I called the parents the next morning and said "it's all in splinters, is that graphic enough to explain the complete devastation.
Interesting how you prefer to jump in your car and get out of harms way in case of a tornado. Everybody I talk to and all the tornado "experts" say that is one of the worst things you can do. But if you live in an exposed house in the country with no basement (like I do), you can't help but think maybe your chances would be better getting in the car and heading away from those evil spots that the Doppler radar is showing on the Weather Channel. At least, I would think so. As long as there's plenty of warning and distance and you know where you're going, I think getting in the car and getting out of Dodge is better than hiding in your bathtub behind flimsy walls.
Trailer= tornado magnet. Trailer Park= Tornado Electromagnet.
You know I'm gonna steal that don't you? Promise to give you credit for as long as I can remember where it came from. :-D
I, too, can use only one hand to count the "live and in color" tornadoes I've actually seen. They are awesome spectacles... but I'd gladly go the rest of my entire life without seeing another.
I'm also amazed at the fact that NONE of my neighbors in the electromagnet where I live get out of Dodge when the sirens sound. We've been lucky... so far: three warnings in six years, and all of 'em false alarms. But if or when the luck runs OUT a lot of my neighbors will be dead or seriously hurt. Makes me crazy, thinking about it. Coz like you said, Jay... there's no reason to NOT get out of the way in this day and age.
Dave: Interesting how those "experts" are either 1)in a tv station no where near one, or 2) in a mobile storm chaser vehicle staying just close enough to watch. If i said "Hey Dave i'm gonna set up an M65 Soltam about a block away and fire 120mm rounds at your house, you can stay in your cellar if you want but...its up to you." I'm no "expert" but i have seen what mortar rounds and tornadoes do and its not much different. I'll take the highway...quickly.
Doc: its all good, i'm not famous enough to plagiarize.
Uncle Buck: Preecisely. You strike me as a guy that knows when to throw in the cards, not roll the dice. Besides, your "trailer" has wheels.
Bro: i know those were dark days for you.
Hey, I know this pretty odd, considering the blog I found about this is a couple of years old, but I was researching my family lineage online and came across your coat-of-arms blog.
My Father passed along to me a complete family tree going back to 859 A.D. he also gave to me a book his uncle compiled, called The Ancient Family of Palmer. the book has the exact same Crest as you put on your Blog.
There are lots of interesting facts in this book, and Certified Documents of Mayflower Descendants, and family Knights in all 3 Crusades! If you are interested in seeing if any of this lines up together email me. I would be intrigued to hear from you. Here is my email.
panteracfh1974@gmail.com
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