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mountainside13 11:45 AM 05-13-2014
We had a big storm on Mother's Day evening. Thought it would be fun to share some of the photos from our local news. This aren't my photos, I didn't take them! I was a coward hiding in the basement under the stairs with my kids.
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mountainside13 11:50 AM 05-13-2014
It's only letting me upload 1 at a time

This is the funnel that was by us. Didn't do too much damage.

There was a touch down that went for 17 miles, it was 45 minutes away by my grandparents. That one did a lt of damage but no one was injured!
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Blackcat31 11:50 AM 05-13-2014
Oh wow! How scary!!

I am glad that is another weather phenomenon that we RARELY, if ever deal with here.
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Second Home 12:14 PM 05-13-2014
Yikes .

We only get small tornadoes here , but it is scary to have to take shelter .
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MrsSteinel'sHouse 12:18 PM 05-13-2014
glad you all are safe!
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spud912 12:22 PM 05-13-2014
Amazing photos! I've always wanted to see that in person, but I think it's better I haven't .
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Jack Sprat 12:25 PM 05-13-2014
As much as I love thunder storms I dread this time of year because of the tornados. We have a whistle that goes off everyday at noon, and when we have fires. I dread the siren with hesitation. That means take shelter..Glad you are safe!
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craftymissbeth 12:33 PM 05-13-2014
I'm glad no one was hurt! I'm in the middle of tornado alley and this time of year scares me, too. Although, I LOVE the feeling of the storms... and I'm known to sit on my front porch until the sirens go off

After Greensburg, KS and then the deadly tornadoes in the last several years in the surrounding states I've learned to take tornado watches/warnings much more seriously. It's too bad that they're so beautiful, though.
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TheGoodLife 12:35 PM 05-13-2014
I'm in NE and we had bad storms and a few confirmed tornadoes on Mothers' Day- I was working a double at my restaurant and had people coming in during the storms that evening and even going through the salad bar well after our power going out (it was PITCH black and the bartender was in with her flashlight app so they could see the food.) Meanwhile I'm near tears just wanting to be home with my babies Luckily no injuries or worse, just damaged houses in a few areas!
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Cradle2crayons 01:27 PM 05-13-2014
I've seen wayyyyyy too many in person... But I still am entranced by the photos... We had one just a few weeks ago while daycare kids were here and we were without power two days...

I've lived through some historic ones... But I wish I'd never seen one in person... And I'd be happy to never see another one.
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spud912 01:30 PM 05-13-2014
Originally Posted by Mama2Bella:
I'm in NE and we had bad storms and a few confirmed tornadoes on Mothers' Day- I was working a double at my restaurant and had people coming in during the storms that evening and even going through the salad bar well after our power going out (it was PITCH black and the bartender was in with her flashlight app so they could see the food.) Meanwhile I'm near tears just wanting to be home with my babies Luckily no injuries or worse, just damaged houses in a few areas!
Don't get between people and the salad bar!
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SilverSabre25 02:52 PM 05-13-2014
This (and the photos a local meterologist posted on his FB page this afternoon of wall clouds and a tornado that was further north yesterday) are reminding me to double check our storm saftey plans and stuff.

Brr. They've been coming up a lot lately. I hope it's not an omen.
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SillyGrl 08:39 PM 05-13-2014
Originally Posted by craftymissbeth:
After Greensburg, KS and then the deadly tornadoes in the last several years in the surrounding states I've learned to take tornado watches/warnings much more seriously. It's too bad that they're so beautiful, though.
I helped with clean-up after the Greensburg tornado. And several others in that area. In 2012, I lived in Haysville, KS and a tornado went through Derby and close to where I lived *right* after I left for work (I worked 3rd shift at the jail in downtown Wichita). I like watching storms but after seeing how devastating they can be, I'm heading for shelter when the sirens go off!!!
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craftymissbeth 05:37 AM 05-14-2014
Originally Posted by SillyGrl:
I helped with clean-up after the Greensburg tornado. And several others in that area. In 2012, I lived in Haysville, KS and a tornado went through Derby and close to where I lived *right* after I left for work (I worked 3rd shift at the jail in downtown Wichita). I like watching storms but after seeing how devastating they can be, I'm heading for shelter when the sirens go off!!!
I imagine that was tough seeing and helping with all of that devastation first hand.

I live 30 minutes from Wichita and I remember the tornado that was in the Derby area. There was one near Benton last year or the year before.
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jenn 06:03 AM 05-14-2014
I have seen the devastation many times. Pictures are amazing, but do not show the emotions and reality of standing in the middle of the aftermath.

My grandparents live 2 houses down from the trailer park destroyed in the Andover KS tornado. The damage in the area was unbelievable. It was like being on a movie set as the devastation was just unbelievable. Watching rescue workers search for the missing was something I will never forget.

I taught at a school in the middle of where the Haysville KS/South Wichita tornado went through. Driving through neighborhood and looking at lots of land cleaned bare by the tornado where yesterday a house stood, is breathtaking. We thought "Wow, they sure cleaned this area quickly!". Nope, there was just nothing left. No grass, no trash, no house,...everything just gone. We had students that struggled years later with the trauma.

However, I think living in tornado alley kind of deadens us to it at the same time. We know the risk. We know the possibilities. However, when the warnings are issued, we don't get too concerned until it's headed right at us. When the sirens go off, we don't always jump and take cover. We wait it out. We watch. I think we get used to hearing the tornado warnings and just assume they will pass us. I think I will check our emergency stuff in the basement today.
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SillyGrl 06:22 AM 05-14-2014
Originally Posted by jenn:
I taught at a school in the middle of where the Haysville KS/South Wichita tornado went through. Driving through neighborhood and looking at lots of land cleaned bare by the tornado where yesterday a house stood, is breathtaking. We thought "Wow, they sure cleaned this area quickly!". Nope, there was just nothing left. No grass, no trash, no house,...everything just gone. We had students that struggled years later with the trauma.
I lived in a "newer" house that had been built after the tornado in Haysville. They have that historic park all rebuilt, and you really can't even tell unless you see the pictures that all of that was just gone. There is a tree in that park with a sign that points up. You can see a metal frame twisted around the trunk of the tree. They left it there as a reminder.
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jenn 07:44 AM 05-14-2014
Originally Posted by SillyGrl:
I lived in a "newer" house that had been built after the tornado in Haysville. They have that historic park all rebuilt, and you really can't even tell unless you see the pictures that all of that was just gone. There is a tree in that park with a sign that points up. You can see a metal frame twisted around the trunk of the tree. They left it there as a reminder.
I'm so glad they rebuilt. I don't work there anymore and live in another area of town, so I haven't seen it in many years.
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SilverSabre25 08:34 AM 05-14-2014
Originally Posted by jenn:
However, I think living in tornado alley kind of deadens us to it at the same time. We know the risk. We know the possibilities. However, when the warnings are issued, we don't get too concerned until it's headed right at us. When the sirens go off, we don't always jump and take cover. We wait it out. We watch. I think we get used to hearing the tornado warnings and just assume they will pass us. I think I will check our emergency stuff in the basement today.
I'm not in tornado alley, but with the better technology and things like live doppler radar, cell phones, smart phones, etc, we don't RUSH for cover either. I hear sirens, I check the sky first (lol), I flip to the best live radar station second, and unless it is near or headed for my part of town we just sit tight. I'm on the north east side of the city and in the north east corner of the county and the sirens are county wide. MOST often the "bad" part of the storm cell is on the south or south west edge of the city/county, many miles away. So, no reason to shelter.

It's all about responding with intelligence. If a siren sounds and our power is out? I check the sky but take shelter because I don't have the radar to know for sure where it is.
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Jack Sprat 11:17 AM 05-14-2014
Before I opened the daycare we were watch and see people when it came to warnings etc. Now, the 2nd that siren goes off we are hauling our bottoms down those stairs. My fear is parents wanting to come pick up while we are waiting in the basement. I don't like the idea of them leaving during a storm. I don't have a problem with them waiting it out with us. But, its a small basement we use for storage so it could get crowded.
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SilverSabre25 12:40 PM 05-14-2014
Originally Posted by Jack Sprat:
Before I opened the daycare we were watch and see people when it came to warnings etc. Now, the 2nd that siren goes off we are hauling our bottoms down those stairs. My fear is parents wanting to come pick up while we are waiting in the basement. I don't like the idea of them leaving during a storm. I don't have a problem with them waiting it out with us. But, its a small basement we use for storage so it could get crowded.
I was just contemplating posting something on this exact topic. I figure we have no choice, but could we be liable if something bad happened?
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Jack Sprat 12:51 PM 05-14-2014
We I was teaching we had the sirens go off and were in our safe room. Parents who choose to pick up during the storm had to say a waiver saying they were responsible for their child from that point on and understood they had an option to wait it out with us. Many came right back when they saw how quickly the streets were flooding.

I assume we could do the same thing.
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mountainside13 02:35 PM 05-14-2014
I wouldn't mind sharing the basement with parents but I don't think there would be enough room in the shelter for everyone! It was very cramped with myself, hubby and our 2 kids. We are going to see if we can expand the area. We are planning to reenforce the inside and a door with a lock. Right now we are using a mattress with ratcheting straps to hold onto for a door.
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SilverSabre25 04:12 PM 05-14-2014
aaaand my nervy-ness was warranted. just finished an "exciting" series of tornado warnings and multiple tornados in the surrounding counties. Egad. This was a nasty evening.
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momofboys 04:24 PM 05-14-2014
Originally Posted by SilverSabre25:
aaaand my nervy-ness was warranted. just finished an "exciting" series of tornado warnings and multiple tornados in the surrounding counties. Egad. This was a nasty evening.
Yikes - that was me - several surrounded us & one was sited a few miles from our home. Thankfully the warning has been lifted for us. A little too exciting for me! Our boys were freaking
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SilverSabre25 04:26 PM 05-14-2014
Originally Posted by momofboys:
Yikes - that was me - several surrounded us & one was sited a few miles from our home. Thankfully the warning has been lifted for us. A little too exciting for me! Our boys were freaking
You're west aren't you? The one that triggered our sirens was the one down near Canal Winchester, but we watched the coverage of that western one too. Glad you guys are safe!!

This has to be some kind of, I don't know, record. I don't know that I've ever seen such an active day here in Central OH! I hope this isn't a sign of things to come...
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Meeko 06:04 PM 05-14-2014
I remember several cold and scary nights in our storm cellar when we lived in Oklahoma! After we moved onto the base (Air Force) I didn't feel quite so safe as we didn't have our own shelter then like we did with our rental.

Every month, we would do our daycare emergency drills when they did the siren test in town. I always wondered if what I was teaching the kids went in one ear and out the other. Until one weekend, we had a big storm and the sirens went off. On Monday morning, DCM shows up with her 2 year old. She was impressed that when the sirens went off, her cool as a cucumber child told them exactly what to do and where to go in the house etc!!
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momofboys 06:07 PM 05-14-2014
Originally Posted by SilverSabre25:
You're west aren't you? The one that triggered our sirens was the one down near Canal Winchester, but we watched the coverage of that western one too. Glad you guys are safe!!

This has to be some kind of, I don't know, record. I don't know that I've ever seen such an active day here in Central OH! I hope this isn't a sign of things to come...
Yep, I am in Madison Co just west of Franklin. It was sort of funny in that they would lift our warning only to replace it with a new warning. All's good for us & glad you are okay, too.
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Cradle2crayons 06:13 PM 05-14-2014
Originally Posted by Jack Sprat:
Before I opened the daycare we were watch and see people when it came to warnings etc. Now, the 2nd that siren goes off we are hauling our bottoms down those stairs. My fear is parents wanting to come pick up while we are waiting in the basement. I don't like the idea of them leaving during a storm. I don't have a problem with them waiting it out with us. But, its a small basement we use for storage so it could get crowded.
I do he same things our school does. Delayed pick up of we are in the middle of a tornado. If they want to pick up hours before while we are still under a watch that's fine though.

Parents sign their understanding at enrollment.
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