Fifty Tornadoes is too many tornadoes -- midwest MeFites check in! November 17, 2013 2:46 PM Subscribe
The reports of these midwest storms sound terrifying. Midwest Mefites, are you OK?
There are some unbelievable photos on Reddit right now.
posted by bquarters at 2:57 PM on November 17, 2013
posted by bquarters at 2:57 PM on November 17, 2013
We had downed branches only, though it was pretty hairy (and LOUD) there for a minute and we did have to go huddle in the basement. The greatest indignity that my household has suffered is that the local CBS station lost its transmitter so NO BEARS GAME FOR US!
Two of my friends lost their homes in this touchdown around 10 miles from us. I don't THINK any of the Central Illinois mefites that I'm aware of live in the places that had direct hits, but I'm not positive. A lot of the area is without power, though.
The state police are reporting no fatalities from the tornadoes in my tri-county area (though 8 people in serious condition), so thank goodness for the National Weather Service, tornado sirens, and warnings early enough for people to take shelter.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 2:58 PM on November 17, 2013 [2 favorites]
Two of my friends lost their homes in this touchdown around 10 miles from us. I don't THINK any of the Central Illinois mefites that I'm aware of live in the places that had direct hits, but I'm not positive. A lot of the area is without power, though.
The state police are reporting no fatalities from the tornadoes in my tri-county area (though 8 people in serious condition), so thank goodness for the National Weather Service, tornado sirens, and warnings early enough for people to take shelter.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 2:58 PM on November 17, 2013 [2 favorites]
We were lucky and missed the really bad stuff here on the south side of Indianapolis. It rained like hell though. I've certainly seen much worse.
Others haven't fared so well. Local news shows tornado and wind damage in numerous places in Indiana. There are three fatalities reported for Illinois but none so far in Indiana.
posted by double block and bleed at 3:09 PM on November 17, 2013
Others haven't fared so well. Local news shows tornado and wind damage in numerous places in Indiana. There are three fatalities reported for Illinois but none so far in Indiana.
posted by double block and bleed at 3:09 PM on November 17, 2013
Here at the back end of it, (St. Louis) apparently there have been some power outages and downed trees. My pin oak dropped a dead 3" branch and the puppies have been having fun dragging it around the yard.
Apparently it's worse the farther east you go.
posted by notsnot at 3:13 PM on November 17, 2013 [1 favorite]
Apparently it's worse the farther east you go.
posted by notsnot at 3:13 PM on November 17, 2013 [1 favorite]
Muncie, Indiana here.
Looks like the area around Kokomo got beat-up pretty bad. Close to 50,000+ homes are without power across the state, the last time I saw the news. Lots of funnel clouds reported. Personally, we had a tornado warning issued for a corridor that included my home. Got insanely windy and had those "yep, there's gonna be a tornado" clouds. Luckily, nothing touched down near me.
Still crazy windy.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:16 PM on November 17, 2013
Looks like the area around Kokomo got beat-up pretty bad. Close to 50,000+ homes are without power across the state, the last time I saw the news. Lots of funnel clouds reported. Personally, we had a tornado warning issued for a corridor that included my home. Got insanely windy and had those "yep, there's gonna be a tornado" clouds. Luckily, nothing touched down near me.
Still crazy windy.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:16 PM on November 17, 2013
Anyone up in Lake County? That's where my family is, haven't had a chance to check in with them.
posted by Ghidorah at 3:20 PM on November 17, 2013
posted by Ghidorah at 3:20 PM on November 17, 2013
Luckily we didn't have any tornadoes in town but there was one reported a few miles away. It was pretty crazy how the air smelled exactly like spring and the wind was just SO loud. I sat in a bathtub for a while in the middle floor of a pretty fortified apartment complex, with the fan on, and I could STILL hear the wind outside. The lights flickered for a while but never went off. The sky looked pretty neat as the system passed me.
posted by quiet coyote at 3:21 PM on November 17, 2013
posted by quiet coyote at 3:21 PM on November 17, 2013
Anyone up in Lake County?
Lake County, Indiana? I'm pretty sure this stuff stayed south of there.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:24 PM on November 17, 2013
Lake County, Indiana? I'm pretty sure this stuff stayed south of there.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:24 PM on November 17, 2013
far north side of chicago, not much to report. pea-sized hail and some loud and strong winds, but the worst of the storm passed quickly. the weird part was the sun and blue sky afterwards, though now it's suuuuper windy again.
posted by misskaz at 3:26 PM on November 17, 2013
posted by misskaz at 3:26 PM on November 17, 2013
South Side, Chicago... the watch zone crept up on us but we ended up being fine. Just crazy wind, sirens, and hail.
posted by stoneandstar at 3:37 PM on November 17, 2013
posted by stoneandstar at 3:37 PM on November 17, 2013
My parents are up near Lake County (IL) ... windy and wet but nothing serious.
I think this is the one that did all the damage in Washington, IL.
The one that went over us (a few minutes before Washington got hit) was a "rain-wrapped" tornado and I have never seen anything like it. It started raining a little and then suddenly it was hailing and then it was the loudest damn rainstorm I'd ever heard and the rain was SHEETING against the house such that it looked like a solid wall, you couldn't see more than 3 inches out the window. Just as I was saying, "I think we should get to the basement ..." the tornado siren went off and I was like BAAAAAAAAASEMENT.
We didn't get the full "sounds like an oncoming train" effect (thank god!) because the funnel didn't come down near/over us, but WOW it was loud. We had the TV turned all the way up and we couldn't hear the weatherpeople talking because the storm was so noisy.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 3:59 PM on November 17, 2013
I think this is the one that did all the damage in Washington, IL.
The one that went over us (a few minutes before Washington got hit) was a "rain-wrapped" tornado and I have never seen anything like it. It started raining a little and then suddenly it was hailing and then it was the loudest damn rainstorm I'd ever heard and the rain was SHEETING against the house such that it looked like a solid wall, you couldn't see more than 3 inches out the window. Just as I was saying, "I think we should get to the basement ..." the tornado siren went off and I was like BAAAAAAAAASEMENT.
We didn't get the full "sounds like an oncoming train" effect (thank god!) because the funnel didn't come down near/over us, but WOW it was loud. We had the TV turned all the way up and we couldn't hear the weatherpeople talking because the storm was so noisy.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 3:59 PM on November 17, 2013
Cincinnatian here.
We're currently in the basement waiting out the PDS Tornado Warning (and have decided that PDS stands for Pretty Darned Serious). The dog isn't usually allowed down here and he keeps looking at me as if to say, "Oh man, when you guys catch me down here I am going to be in so much trouble!"
Winds are scary but I think we'll be okay.
posted by cooker girl at 4:17 PM on November 17, 2013 [1 favorite]
We're currently in the basement waiting out the PDS Tornado Warning (and have decided that PDS stands for Pretty Darned Serious). The dog isn't usually allowed down here and he keeps looking at me as if to say, "Oh man, when you guys catch me down here I am going to be in so much trouble!"
Winds are scary but I think we'll be okay.
posted by cooker girl at 4:17 PM on November 17, 2013 [1 favorite]
Checking in from near Joliet, IL. Our sirens went off long before we heard any wind, so we grabbed all the critters and stayed in the basement for about 20 minutes. Something passed over us, because we heard of a tree down not too far away, but otherwise, just a lot of leaves blown around.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 4:18 PM on November 17, 2013
posted by SuperSquirrel at 4:18 PM on November 17, 2013
I'm in Chicago. I was going to go to a party (another mefite!) earlier and was actually super serious about going (I PUT PANTS ON AND EVERYTHING, AND IT'S A SUNDAY, GUYS) and then it started hailing. So I took my pants off and have been tooling around the house all day listening to weird weather noises. My apartment has actually swayed back and forth a few times, and I'm in a 100 year old brick building. Whee!
But aside from my dog being super sad we haven't gone out today, nothing really to report here.
posted by phunniemee at 4:19 PM on November 17, 2013 [2 favorites]
But aside from my dog being super sad we haven't gone out today, nothing really to report here.
posted by phunniemee at 4:19 PM on November 17, 2013 [2 favorites]
I have one of the worst sinus headaches of my life. My part of Ohio's got a tornado watch but honestly I stopped taking those seriously years and years ago; I'm more concerned with surviving the pressure change without finding something sharp to drive into my forehead.
I PUT PANTS ON AND EVERYTHING
I'm glad I'm not the only one who judges things on whether they are in fact pants-worthy on weekends.
posted by Sequence at 4:27 PM on November 17, 2013 [3 favorites]
I PUT PANTS ON AND EVERYTHING
I'm glad I'm not the only one who judges things on whether they are in fact pants-worthy on weekends.
posted by Sequence at 4:27 PM on November 17, 2013 [3 favorites]
Waukegan here [Lake County, near the WI border]. Nothing terrible. Lots of wind and rain but we're all OK.
posted by rossination at 5:08 PM on November 17, 2013
posted by rossination at 5:08 PM on November 17, 2013
Yeah, it wasn't a big deal in St. Louis. I saw a young tree (2-inch-diameter trunk) snapped off, and the speaker box in the drive-through at the Lion's Choice in Brentwood looked like someone had kicked it backward (and the top of one of the lamps on the side of the building had blown off). A power line was down on N. McKnight Road. I didn't see much else besides a few fallen branches.
posted by limeonaire at 5:35 PM on November 17, 2013
posted by limeonaire at 5:35 PM on November 17, 2013
I saw a link on sfgate earlier and was like wtf it's NOVEMBER, HI. Hope/glad everyone's as okay as can be expected.
posted by rtha at 5:55 PM on November 17, 2013
posted by rtha at 5:55 PM on November 17, 2013
Oh! One other fun thing here in St. Louis - we were in a movie when it came through, and when we were headed home, traffic on the interstate was down to one lane because there was a concrete light post in the fast lane. There are no concrete light posts anywhere near that elevated (!) double-decker section of highway.
posted by notsnot at 5:56 PM on November 17, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by notsnot at 5:56 PM on November 17, 2013 [1 favorite]
And watching the video in the first link made me wonder again if there's some kind of hardwired difference between people who can live in tornado country vs. people who can live in earthquake country. I live in the latter but have visited the former (and lived in, what, hurricane/blizzard/Nor'eastern country) and I have to say I prefer earthquake country so far.
posted by rtha at 6:03 PM on November 17, 2013
posted by rtha at 6:03 PM on November 17, 2013
Jscalzi's lost power according to twitters.
Holy crap.
posted by homunculus at 6:08 PM on November 17, 2013 [2 favorites]
Holy crap.
posted by homunculus at 6:08 PM on November 17, 2013 [2 favorites]
Patty O'Furniture
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 6:42 PM on November 17, 2013 [5 favorites]
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 6:42 PM on November 17, 2013 [5 favorites]
rossination, thanks, you're pretty close to my family (North Chicago and Gurnee), so that puts me a bit more at ease.
posted by Ghidorah at 7:10 PM on November 17, 2013
posted by Ghidorah at 7:10 PM on November 17, 2013
"I live in the latter but have visited the former (and lived in, what, hurricane/blizzard/Nor'eastern country) and I have to say I prefer earthquake country so far."
That just seems nuts to me.
I actually wouldn't worry much if I lived in earthquake country, either, to be clear. But I've lived in tornado country most of my life and have had a few near misses (would have been visible a block away had I been dumb enough to be out where I could have seen it and not inside under a heavy desk) and it's just fantastically unlikely that I or any individual person will be injured in a tornado. But earthquakes (and hurricanes and tsunamis and certain volcanic eruptions) cause damage and injury over a large area. There's never going to be a tornado or cluster of tornados that kill a hundred thousand people.
That said, I should confess that I have a recurring nightmare of looking out a window and seeing a tornado nearby. I obviously have some sort of anxiety about them.
"There are some unbelievable photos on Reddit right now."
My recurring nightmare tornado nightmares might also have to do with my fascination for photos and videos. Except they predate them. Maybe my fascination has to do with my nightmares?
Either way, I am really interested in good YouTube videos of tornado close-encounters. They're kind of a mess to search for, though. My favorite, so far, from a few years ago, is by a guy in his car in a parking lot with an approaching tornado and on his cell he tells someone (spouse, I think) not to worry because it's not coming his way and then, of course, it comes right toward him and it's loud and everything is crazy on the camera and something slams into his car and dents it and then it moves off.
That was a guy who didn't grow up in tornado country.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 8:29 PM on November 17, 2013 [2 favorites]
That just seems nuts to me.
I actually wouldn't worry much if I lived in earthquake country, either, to be clear. But I've lived in tornado country most of my life and have had a few near misses (would have been visible a block away had I been dumb enough to be out where I could have seen it and not inside under a heavy desk) and it's just fantastically unlikely that I or any individual person will be injured in a tornado. But earthquakes (and hurricanes and tsunamis and certain volcanic eruptions) cause damage and injury over a large area. There's never going to be a tornado or cluster of tornados that kill a hundred thousand people.
That said, I should confess that I have a recurring nightmare of looking out a window and seeing a tornado nearby. I obviously have some sort of anxiety about them.
"There are some unbelievable photos on Reddit right now."
My recurring nightmare tornado nightmares might also have to do with my fascination for photos and videos. Except they predate them. Maybe my fascination has to do with my nightmares?
Either way, I am really interested in good YouTube videos of tornado close-encounters. They're kind of a mess to search for, though. My favorite, so far, from a few years ago, is by a guy in his car in a parking lot with an approaching tornado and on his cell he tells someone (spouse, I think) not to worry because it's not coming his way and then, of course, it comes right toward him and it's loud and everything is crazy on the camera and something slams into his car and dents it and then it moves off.
That was a guy who didn't grow up in tornado country.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 8:29 PM on November 17, 2013 [2 favorites]
We had some pretty torrential rains here and maybe a few hailstones. Mrs. pjern & I went to headspace's house for lasagna, and the ride down was frankly a little hair-raising.
We got home this evening to tripped UPS's squealing and flipped-out cats racing around. Other than that, we rode it out pretty well.
posted by pjern at 9:02 PM on November 17, 2013
We got home this evening to tripped UPS's squealing and flipped-out cats racing around. Other than that, we rode it out pretty well.
posted by pjern at 9:02 PM on November 17, 2013
Family in Waterman, Shabbona, Woodstock, Crystal Lake, Homewood, and Peoria area all fine, tons of wind and rain but that's Illinois. I sure miss those great plains storms sometimes, the sky goes green* and you can damn near smell trouble; that color green alone and if there is a basement close-by I want to get into it fast. Except of course I also want to watch the show; that green, while scary, is beautiful, same as rattlesnakes are beautiful.
*if it's summertime, and leaves on the trees, the leaves all turn sideways or upside down in some light-green leaf freak-show, also a warning, same as the green sky
There are tons of those wind turbines all over in Waterman and Shabbona, just found a youtube vid of what happens when one gets hit straight on. And those things are massive, much larger** than they look from the road; it appears that tornadoes are plenty powerful enough to do some hefty damage.
**for scale, look at the trees in that vid; they look like toad-stools next to those turbines
posted by dancestoblue at 10:48 PM on November 17, 2013 [3 favorites]
*if it's summertime, and leaves on the trees, the leaves all turn sideways or upside down in some light-green leaf freak-show, also a warning, same as the green sky
There are tons of those wind turbines all over in Waterman and Shabbona, just found a youtube vid of what happens when one gets hit straight on. And those things are massive, much larger** than they look from the road; it appears that tornadoes are plenty powerful enough to do some hefty damage.
**for scale, look at the trees in that vid; they look like toad-stools next to those turbines
posted by dancestoblue at 10:48 PM on November 17, 2013 [3 favorites]
For the record the dragons did not eat us and our power was out for only an hour or so. We are fine, the pets are fine, the neighbors are fine.
posted by jscalzi at 6:15 AM on November 18, 2013 [7 favorites]
posted by jscalzi at 6:15 AM on November 18, 2013 [7 favorites]
I'm OH, not OK. Regardless, everything is fine in this part of the midwest!
posted by slogger at 9:38 AM on November 18, 2013
posted by slogger at 9:38 AM on November 18, 2013
Landing with random 50-60 mph wind gusts and sustained 35 mph winds at Cleveland's airport last night was a hell of an adventure, let me tell you. I'm just glad I wasn't seated one more row up, aka The Row Where Everyone Threw Up.
posted by bitter-girl.com at 1:09 PM on November 18, 2013
posted by bitter-girl.com at 1:09 PM on November 18, 2013
rtha: "And watching the video in the first link made me wonder again if there's some kind of hardwired difference between people who can live in tornado country vs. people who can live in earthquake country. "
In Illinois, we don't have to decide! We have both!
posted by SuperSquirrel at 1:37 PM on November 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
In Illinois, we don't have to decide! We have both!
posted by SuperSquirrel at 1:37 PM on November 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
rtha: "And watching the video in the first link made me wonder again if there's some kind of hardwired difference between people who can live in tornado country vs. people who can live in earthquake country. "
In Illinois, we don't have to decide! We have both!
I grew up in hurricane country and now live in Chicago. Chicago is delightfully disaster free. I welcome all who wish to flee from the forces of nature to come join me. Bring a warm coat.
posted by phunniemee at 1:49 PM on November 18, 2013
In Illinois, we don't have to decide! We have both!
I grew up in hurricane country and now live in Chicago. Chicago is delightfully disaster free. I welcome all who wish to flee from the forces of nature to come join me. Bring a warm coat.
posted by phunniemee at 1:49 PM on November 18, 2013
Ann Arbor-ish here. No damage but lots of downed branches. The dead tree in the yard behind us came down but fell the other way and it could have taken out the whole neighborhood's electricity but happily missed the lines.
posted by leslies at 2:41 PM on November 18, 2013
posted by leslies at 2:41 PM on November 18, 2013
kalamazoo - heavy rain and wind, some branches down in the neighborhood, mattawan had a few collapsed roofs and my power was out for about 6 hours
i've seen worse - in fact, i saw worse this year
posted by pyramid termite at 5:18 PM on November 18, 2013
i've seen worse - in fact, i saw worse this year
posted by pyramid termite at 5:18 PM on November 18, 2013
Western suburbs of Chicago. We are fine. We had a couple puddles in our basement but that was about it. My dog was completely not bothered by the storm but my cat ran and hid under the bed.
I do have some friends in the area that got hit hardest - one actually in Washington, IL and the other in Peoria - but they are safe too, thankfully!
posted by SisterHavana at 6:21 PM on November 18, 2013
I do have some friends in the area that got hit hardest - one actually in Washington, IL and the other in Peoria - but they are safe too, thankfully!
posted by SisterHavana at 6:21 PM on November 18, 2013
Michigan here. Detroit is getting some hellacious wind, but it hasn't started to spiral, yet.
posted by Shouraku at 6:51 PM on November 18, 2013
posted by Shouraku at 6:51 PM on November 18, 2013
Toledo, OH. Three confirmed tornadoes in the area - an EF2 and two EF1. Lots of downed tree limbs in my 'hood, and the roof took a little damage and sprung a leak, but we are elsewise fine. It was just a violent storm in the city proper, the twisters were out in the 'burbs. We lost the drive in and a Circle K, but most homes are only damaged, not flattened.
The one that wiped out Lake High School and its community in 2010 was an EF4.
posted by MissySedai at 12:59 AM on November 19, 2013
The one that wiped out Lake High School and its community in 2010 was an EF4.
posted by MissySedai at 12:59 AM on November 19, 2013
**for scale, look at the trees in that vid; they look like toad-stools next to those turbines
I see them transporting the wings along I-80 all the time. They are unbelievably massive. The are probably twice as long as a standard semi truck trailer. They hook one end to the truck, and then tie a set of wheels to the other end of it. And the stalk where it mounts onto the turbine is about the same diameter as a gasoline tanker.
posted by gjc at 3:58 AM on November 19, 2013
I see them transporting the wings along I-80 all the time. They are unbelievably massive. The are probably twice as long as a standard semi truck trailer. They hook one end to the truck, and then tie a set of wheels to the other end of it. And the stalk where it mounts onto the turbine is about the same diameter as a gasoline tanker.
posted by gjc at 3:58 AM on November 19, 2013
Thanks to everyone for checking in. It's good to hear what it's like out there.
From now on I propose that all disaster check in threads require that the poster include their pants/no pants status so that we can properly evaluate their wellbeing. Moderators, can you make this mandatory?
posted by medusa at 8:55 AM on November 19, 2013 [4 favorites]
From now on I propose that all disaster check in threads require that the poster include their pants/no pants status so that we can properly evaluate their wellbeing. Moderators, can you make this mandatory?
posted by medusa at 8:55 AM on November 19, 2013 [4 favorites]
I grew up in Streamwood, IL. and remember being roughly awakened and carried into the basement several times with pajama pants. Footies, to be precise. And yes, I have pants on now.
Hope every Midwesterner here is OK.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 6:25 PM on November 19, 2013
Hope every Midwesterner here is OK.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 6:25 PM on November 19, 2013
Well, as it turns out, we lost a pear tree in the wind.
posted by pjern at 12:43 AM on November 20, 2013
posted by pjern at 12:43 AM on November 20, 2013
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The Facebook of Tom Skilling has reports and pics coming in.
posted by JoeXIII007 at 2:55 PM on November 17, 2013 [1 favorite]