Tornado Weather is here! Hits Close to Home

With the severe weather we are having right now in SW Missouri,it makes me wonder why.Why we are having so many Tornado outbreaks and floods?I do live in what is called"Tornado Alley"here. I just read a news article here that one just hit my home town of Little Rock just a few minutes ago.The town i grew up in Cabot,Arkansas was hit pretty hard as well.It's just about 30 miles north of Little Rock.They have trees down,power lines,several businesses and homes hit.

Here is a video of the tornado caught on a police cruisers dash cam.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid823425597/bclid877032950/bctid1487554811

They just had a F-4 tornado hit there back in Feb. that tore through about 125 mile long path,killing 12,damaging at least 900 homes and 100 businesses. The month of April always suffers the most tornadoes on average. Tornadoes have always amazed me,that may sound crazy,but i have always wanted to understand them.They are the most violent,powerful storms on earth.Spring most always brings about Tornadoes. I do hate that they kill,hurt and destroy. We just had one hit here the other day in Buffalo,Mo. I was talking to my oldest daughter on the phone when she heard the sirens going off.She said "Go Mom"!Go to a shelter now!I guess i shouldn't take it so lightly i know. But i suppose when it's my time,i'll go anyway,no matter how. I often kid around with my children who live in Ga.,if i see one,i'll just grab on to the tail,and i'll see them in a few minutes lol.They holler"MOM"!

Have you ever seen the movie"Twister" starring Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton?It's about a group of scientists that try their hardest to discover what makes a Tornado tick.They made a device called"Dorothy"If you haven't seen it,do.You will be sitting on the edge of your seat all during the movie. I,have always wanted to do this all my life.I want to know what makes them"tick".I know,i'll never get the chance to,but i am,and will always be curious about them.I just wish i could have been one of them scientists. I guess maybe i watched too much Wizard of Oz growing up:)The greatest magical film ever made.

One day i'd like to ride along with Warren Faidley,the worlds most professional storm chaser.

I think,without these people we'd be in much higher risk.These Spotters,Storm Chasers,Tornado Chasers help to observe and report threatening weather.Their services are valuable,tho risking their lives. Then you have a group of people that are just thrill seekers,just doing it for the fun and enjoyment of doing it.This can be very dangerous i suppose.

I have found out within the last hour that all my family are safe,without power and lots of damage but not injured or hurt.

It just makes me want to understand these big monster storms more and more.

Winter in Missouri

MISSOURI POEM


It's winter in Missouri
And the gentle breezes blow
Seventy miles an hour
At twenty-five below.

Oh, how I love Missouri
when the snow's up to your butt
You take a breath of winter
And your nose gets frozen shut.

Yes, the weather here is wonderful
So I guess I'll hang around
I could never leave Missouri
'Cause I'm frozen to the ground!!

Weathering The Storms

Ice Storm Feb. 11, 2008
a recap from Jan.12,2007 Ice Storm in the Ozarks of SW Missouri
It's the sounds we remember most. And the generosity of neighbors and strangers.
The kindnesses that made life tolerable during the days and weeks we were without electricity, cable, phones and running water.
The Neighbors pulling together in a time of crisis...walking down the streets, going door to door to offer a lending hand, giving food, hot coffee or to do laundry.
We had a generator on our Motor home, it had two extension cords running off it, constantly running for the 13 days we were without power. One going into our house, the other to our neighbors.
The closeness it brought to our family, our Daughter and son-in-law loosing power, running out in the storm ,to come to our home with two babies in arms, burst in the door to get out of ice coming down so hard and fast. We still had Power at this time ,but only for one day, before our power pole come crashing down, breaking from the base, loosing power .The days to come were all about survival, me making sure to make everyone as comfortable as possible, my husband keeping generator going, filled up with gas. There were lots of food cooked, Chilli, Stews, etc. ,big amounts to share with the whole neighborhood who didn't have any way to cook, much less stay warm.
The Winter Storm of Jan. 12,2007 here in SW Missouri...glistening sheets of ice
It first started on Friday evening, bringing limbs down within an hour, as it iced up very quickly.
I can still hear the constant and unsettling snapping of tree limbs, all night long, like loud gunshots, the sounds of exploding transformers, the revving up of chainsaws, the sounds of many long days of generators running,13 days to be exact.
It's Saturday now Jan. 13,2007
Daylight brings the errie look of a war zone, trees split in half or completely up rooted from the weight of the ice. The ones still standing, no matter how tall, their branches are bent over touching, froze to the ground. Our beautiful Bradford pear tree was split in half. Yards and properties feet deep in Fallen Trees, roads covered with downed power lines ,the damage so extreme, it will take a long time to recover.
No one had any Power, houses ruined, cars demolished by fallen trees.
People standing in streets in shock, just staring.
People helping people, the community pulling together, bringing out the best in human nature, trying to survive.
Sunday Evening, Jan.14,2007,it started raining, touching the trees, freezing on contact, making the weight of the ice on the tree limbs unbearable.
Loud sounds of trees crashing down all around the neighborhood, not knowing where to be exact and no way of knowing, no street lights to see by. I would try to go to sleep ,petrified of being killed by one of our huge trees come crashing down on top of me. Not only could you hear them outside in total darkness being ripped apart, but you could also feel the impact when they hit the ground.
The next 11 days would be long, until on Jan.25,2007 .
They turned our power on, only temporarily as the power lines were hung from the trees until it could be installed properly when our new pole could be put up. On Friday the 26th,they got our pole up, but had to wait till next week to get our power hooked to it.
Jan.29,2007,we have power lines hooked up, trying to get back to some normalcy. We Survived the Ice Storm of Jan 2007
February 11,2008 (just over a year later)
They are calling it Ice Storm 2008 , hit once again here in the Ozarks of SW Missouri
Raining, freezing temps ,causing everything to turn to ice once again.
More than 250 schools closed here and Government offices.
The only difference about this years Ice Storm is, we had so much tree damage last year, causing downed power lines, loosing power everywhere. The trees have all been pruned and cut back this past year, therefore leaving little to fall on power lines. The Ice is still so thick on lines, we are having some power outages, but not as bad, allowing the crews to get the power back up and running more quickly.
It's Tuesday, Feb. 12,2008.Theres Lots and lots of Black Ice.21 degrees here, with snow now coming down really hard on top of all this Ice.
I'm prepared and ready, on stand by ,with open arms to get the babies in, or to help out my neighborhood and community.
After all....it's only Two days until Valentines Day...."It's all about Love, and Weathering the storm together.... any storm".Theres a saying here in Missouri"If you don't like the Weather,stick around,it will change"