EF5 Tornado missed me by "that" much...

[TooManyFords]

What a scare the other night! I'm sure you've all heard about the EF5 tornado that tore up NorthEast Iowa. Well, I was 1 mile south of the path of destruction...

Here are some pics...

http://www.iveldesigns.com/__Downloads/5_25_08_tornado/nh21.jpg

http://www.iveldesigns.com/__Downloads/5_25_08_tornado/nh35.jpg

http://www.iveldesigns.com/__Downloads/5_25_08_tornado/nh36.jpg

http://www.iveldesigns.com/__Downloads/5_25_08_tornado/nh7.jpg

http://www.iveldesigns.com/__Downloads/5_25_08_tornado/nh8.jpg

http://www.iveldesigns.com/__Downloads/5_25_08_tornado/nh10.jpg

[MACFORD88]

Omg Good To Hear Youer Ok.its Sad To See Those Pictures

[oldekid]

Damn! Glad it missed you. Sad for those that had all of the damage though.

This is looking like a really terrible year for storms, and it's early yet. I think we have already matched the number of tornadoes for all of last year. I don't know what is going on. We are rapidly approaching hurricane season down here too, and I'm not looking forward to that.

I'm not sure what that last shot was, or what it used to be, but it really shows how monstrous those things are.

Thanks for sharing the pics. I'm an old Iowa native, and my heart goes out to those folks.

[n00bkiller944]

Wow, the damage looks very devastating. Im glad you stayed safe!

[fastblackmerc]

Glad it missed you big guy!

[TooManyFords]

Like that Grader... It was rolled THREE TIMES to end up where it did. And that frame? Just a portion of what was left from a Blazer. That same tornado ran for over 90 miles, up and down pretty much straight East where it started. In parts it was over a mile wide at the base.

They were measuring the hail with grapefruit. Yeah, grapefruits...

Me? I sat in my basement watching the sky and my neighbors flagpole and it barely moved. One mile away from the twister.

[justbob]

WOW !!!!!!!!!! What do you do once you've lost everything like that? I hope that no one was killed and that insurance pays up quick. Looks like that was a blazer in that last pic.

[TooManyFords]

WOW !!!!!!!!!! What do you do once you've lost everything like that? I hope that no one was killed and that insurance pays up quick. Looks like that was a blazer in that last pic.

Unfortunately, 4 dead in Parkersburg, what we call ground zero. That's the town that lost most everything. Parkerburg is straight East about 20 miles.

[TooManyFords]

My friend Denny Mills just sent me these:

http://picasaweb.google.com/generaldcmills/ParkersburgTornado/photo#s5204893272879008178 (http://picasaweb.google.com/generaldcmills/ParkersburgTornado/photo#s5204893272879008178)

[Breadfan]

OMG, that's ALOT of devestation. :( I'm glad it missed you, but sad to see such devestation and knowing how many others were affected.

Also I bet that firebird in the first pic was pretty nice beforehand as well.

It has been a very active year so far. Just a few weeks ago I was out hiking on a weeknight when we were supposed to be getting some storms. It was pretty nice when I started, but I knew the storms were on their way. I lost tract of time, and was 2 miles out when the sun went down and storms were moving it. I made good time, and got back to the car just after dark, and drove home, noticing just high humidity and increasing cloud cover. I hadn't thought much of it, but got back and turned the weather on and found out we were under a tornado warning, and about 3 or so relatively small tornados had cropped up. Around here we don't get many tornados, and usually that sort of severe weather comes in the warmer/later months.

The point of all this is that it's still early in the year, and so far very active, I hope things chill out severe-weather wise for everyone.

[Raudermaster]

That's nuts. Glad you're OK though.

[jabird56]

John, I'm glad your OK. I'll be glad when the other half and me move out of tornado ally in 2 months.

[ImpalaSlayer]

thats nuts man glad you , your family and the prorauder are safe!

may sound strange but i like pictures like this, really shows what mother nature can do

[Black Dynamite]

No tornadoes but a few downed trees and flooding here in CR. Rained 1.5 inches in 15 mins.

That night was nuts.

Glad your safe!

[TAKEDOWN]

HoLy SH*!...Glad your okay...jeeeeezzzz! Worst case scenerio jump in your Marauder and haul A$$, don't think a tornado could catch up! Really happy to know your okay!

[RoyLPita]

I noticed that the tornadoes in Iowa only attack Chevys.

I'm glad to hear that you were safe away from them.

[Haggis]

John, did Independence get hit? I have family there.

[Bluerauder]

I sat in my basement watching the sky and my neighbors flagpole and it barely moved. One mile away from the twister.
Glad to hear that you were one of the one's that came through this incident unscathed. News video showed the full extent of the devastation. Thanks for the personal perspective and pics.

It never ceases to amaze me how these tornadoes can rip through a neighborhood and leave 1 or 2 homes untouched -- like your neighbor's flagpole.

[SID210SA]

A couple of weeks ago my Dad's town of Bethany Ok near Oklahoma City was hit by a small tornado....lucky he and family was OK...a tree down the street was knocked over....then I was talking to him a couple of days ago and he said they were trying to check on my stepmom's grandmother who live's in that area of Iowa. I havent heard anything back yet...

[HwyCruiser]

John, I'm happy to hear the twister missed you. We had quite a wild weather night here a few weeks back and the tornado sirens were screaming for hours. Other than some wind damage several miles north of us and a tornado reported touching down about 50 miles away we didn't get much other than a little rain. The sky sure did look wicked though.

[DOOM]

good to know youre ok. glad it missed you.

[duhtroll]

I got to see that tornado from a few miles away as I was on my way home from some students' graduation receptions.

The Parkersburg high school is basically gone. A friend of mine who is the band director there sent me this and other shots of what used to be the gym, stage, and band room.

(OK there is no file attached because the pic is 500K and we have a 100K limit. It's only a 5x7 inch picture and I don't have the software here to optimize it any other way than by size.)

I teach in a district just a few miles south of where this went through. Our students spent yesterday afternoon making sandwiches for families and relief workers, and I think Monday our entire high school might head up there if we are needed.

I thought it was only an F3, at least according to one news channel (which in Iowa isn't really accurate much of the time). Was it really an F5?

[mpearce]

There is a difference between an F5, and an EF5. In February of 2007, the US converted over to the "Enhanced Fujita Scale". EFx etc etc.

An Original F5 tornado (very rare) would have a 3 second wind guts between 261-318 mph. The last original confirmed F5 tornado was in 1999.

An EF5 would have winds between 200-234 mph.

In comparison to what we all know as the Original Fujita scale...an EF5 would be somewhere between an F3, and F4.

Still...a very devastating tornado no doubt...as evidenced by the pictures.

-Mat

[Aren Jay]

If you live in the tornado belt build an underground house.

It may not be the best looking house before the storm, but afterwards it definitely is.

[KillJoy]

DAMN JOHN!!!! Good thing you didn't move a hair north!

I hope folks had the proper insurance!!! AND their lives.....

KillJoy

[TooManyFords]

John, did Independence get hit? I have family there.
No, it was north of Independence.

[Haggis]

No, it was north of Independence.

Thank you John and glad to hear you were safe.