More coverage of the Virginia tornado outbreak of April 28, 2008

(The photograph to the right is linked to the source. It is a photograph included in the survey of the Suffolk, VA, tornado aftermath.) A big thank you to Mikey, for sharing a link to another video of the Suffolk, VA wedge tornado, preliminarily rated an EF-3 tornado. This tornado, one of six that were generated in this storm cell alone, damaged 1200 homes, caused $18,000,000 in damage and injured hundreds of people was 1/4 mile wide, tracked for 10 miles, and was on the ground for 15 minutes. I am actually disturbed to see so many "home videos" of this wedge. The videos I have seen are mostly taken by untrained citizens, where the tornado is dangerously close, and rather than trying to get that "weather warrior" footage to be shown on TWC, should be taking cover! Most likely, they aren't aware of storm behavior, aren't trained spotters, aren't experienced storm chasers and therefore, should NOT be endangering their lives for the footage. Folks, if there is a tornado headed toward you, get to the lowest, most interior room in your house. Cover yourself with a mattress or thick blankets. Do not try to capture your demise on video for the sake of the "weather warrior" title. OK? Good. I will get off my soap box now...

The official storm report issued by the National Weather Service in Wakefield, VA is located here (click here). On this site, you will find links to the radar and Photos of the Tornado Damage in Virginia.

(photo taken by Jason Walsh of 13News, photo links to source) Can you imagine what the residents of that home on the left are thinking...? They probably feel relief and guilt and intense sorrow... I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to go through that kind of situation. Anyways, I found a link to a slide show (click here) of photographs taken by folks in the area where these tornadoes occurred, some very demonstrative photos of the raw power of an EF-3 tornado. It is amazing to me that there were no reported fatalities. Praise God. In many of the photos, one point stands out clearly to me... an object is only as strong as its weakest point. In many of the pictures, you see that the structure failed near the garage door. You see a crumpled garage door and walls torn off of the garage and adjoining areas. The garage is the weakest point of a house. If the garage is the location of your "safe spot" shelter, please rethink that. The photo at the start of this post exhibits that point.

Locally, cool morning to start the day and a very late school bus for Mini-Dew. All is well though, and we should face some beautiful afternoon weather. Our next shot at precipitation arrives for the weekend... just after the Relay for Life... hopefully.

Take care,
~Dewdrop

Tornado Reports from February 5 & 6, 2008 Outbreak and how you can help...

Well, the number of reported tornadoes from the February 5th, tornado outbreak has climbed to 91. The death toll has risen to 55, the last time I checked. I have heard some fascinating stories of survival, heart wrenching stories of tragedy, and watching some people talk about it this morning, I saw a glimmer of hope. A new day, an appreciation for the lives that were spared, appreciation for the hope offered by strangers as they work to dig through the rubble that remains in the horrific disasterous wake left behind after the rampage of tornadoes tore through the central part of the country. What can we do to help...? Well, while asking myself the same question, I found a few ways to do that. Click on these links to help those impacted by this horrible storm:

Americares US Disaster Relief Fund


American Red Cross Donation Page


CNN Impact Your World site


Charity Navigator, which helps you make well-informed decisions about donating.


These are just a few of the sites where you can go to make donations. This should be a good start for you. My thoughts and prayers remain with those impacted, that they be granted sufficient grace, to allow for peace and hope.

I began to explore some of the preliminary storm reports offered by the National Weather Service Offices in the areas affected. Those reports usually contain a detailed description of the event, including pictures.

Preliminary Storm Reports:
**Memphis, TN Storm Damage Survey Report
Pictures
**Nashville, TN Public Information Statement
Pictures
**Little Rock, AR Storm Damage Report
Public Information Statement
Pictures
**Huntsville, AL Storm Survey Report
Pictures of Lawrence/Morgan County, AL Damage
Pictures of Jackson County, AL Tornado Damage
**Birmingham, AL Prelimnary Storm Reports
Public Information Statement
Pictures
**Louisville, KY Storm Reports
Comprehensive Kentucky Story
**Paducah, KY Report with Pictures
**Jackson, MS Preliminary Storm Reports

Voiceless it cries,
wingless flutters,
toothless bites,
mouthless mutters.
... the Wind...
~J.R.R. Tolkien
The Hobbit

This post has been alive with comments about the Mountain View tornado with updates... Mountain View Post. Please visit it for updates.

That's it for today,
~Dewdrop