December 10, 2021 Over 30 Tornados Across Six States

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  • #41
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  • #42
  • #43
Wow @RAISINISBACK what an experience! I grew up in "tornado country", I remember tornado drills at school, we went to the hallway, tucked up against our lockers, and kiss your azz!

Thank goodness there were no real tornadoes! I know what the sky looks like though, green black, and that earthy smell...and watching the funnel clouds in the sky, wondering if/when they will drop. Fortunately, I have missed them...
 
  • #44
  • #45
Herat said:
I'm comforted by this news, but the total so far in KY at 94 just leaves me stunned
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The 8 missing is a little concerning though. Looking at all that heaped up damage, IMO there could be more bodies in there.
 
  • #46
JayWill said:
The 8 missing is a little concerning though. Looking at all that heaped up damage, IMO there could be more bodies in there.
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I have a feeling there are more bodies scattered around the storm path myself.
 
  • #47
Lived in western Kentucky until I turned 24. I was worried sick about my best friend because she was in the storm path, had a tornado warning at one point. I've seen photos of the tornado passing over the military base there in KY that she lives close to. Luckily she's okay, that area took some damage - especially one of the elementary schools.

The Mayfield/bowling green area just breaks my heart. I can't believe these tornadoes stayed on the ground so long and caused so much damage and loss of life. :(
 
  • #48
I’ve learned a lot reading your tornado stories here - wow. I see the photos of the damage, and I’m amazed anyone survived. Do most people have storm cellars as far north as Kentucky? I didn’t even know tornados touched down there.
It looks like it will take so long to recover from this. So heartbreaking.
 
  • #49
I was in a cyclone once and it was horrific. I have never been so scared in my life. I didn't even have too much damage, just lost part of my roof. I took my dog and cat and sat on the bottom stair and neither one of them moved from me for ten hours which I thought was never going to end.
 
  • #50
  • #51
Spyralflare said:
I’ve learned a lot reading your tornado stories here - wow. I see the photos of the damage, and I’m amazed anyone survived. Do most people have storm cellars as far north as Kentucky? I didn’t even know tornados touched down there.
It looks like it will take so long to recover from this. So heartbreaking.
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Tornadoes go further north than that. Ohio has its fair share. But this far north, and probably in some of Kentucky too, most houses have basements. So, not a storm cellar as such, but it can work like one. It's just important to know what wall to take cover against, or if it's better in your structure to take shelter at the foot of or underneath stairs, etc.

Several years back, I got caught driving in a very late season storm, around Thanksgiving. I just thought I was scared while the rain pelted my car. I was TERRIFIED when everything got calm and the sky turned an awful green. Fortunately, the tornado missed me, but it was way too close by for comfort.

Then 2 years ago, I spent a night in early March at the foot of my basement stairs with my 2 dogs. I wasn't down there for 10 hours like another poster, but it felt like it. I could hear the house creaking, and it felt like the windows were going to blow out from the pressure. And a tornado wasn't even over my house. I just experienced the 75+ mph winds for about an hour while I hunkered down.

I can't even imagine how horrible it was to live, the ones who were fortunate enough to, through this tornado!! This one just seemed to level everything it encountered.
 
  • #52
Kentucky IS used to tornadoes. I lived most of my adult life there. The notion that tornado alley is just through the great plains is outdated. (Scientists want us to quit using the term because it makes people outside of that area feel too safe.)

The frequently hit areas have been shifting east for some time and the deep south gets hit more often and worse than states like Oklahoma now. While Kentucky is not in the deep south, it is solidly within the current map for frequent tornadoes.

Study: Tornado Alley Shifting East
 

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  • #53
Spyralflare said:
I’ve learned a lot reading your tornado stories here - wow. I see the photos of the damage, and I’m amazed anyone survived. Do most people have storm cellars as far north as Kentucky? I didn’t even know tornados touched down there.
It looks like it will take so long to recover from this. So heartbreaking.
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Storm cellars/basements depend on the style of home and its age really.

It isn’t unusual where I live (Indiana) for newer homes to have safe rooms. We get our fair share of tornadoes.

We live in a 1950s ranch style home. No basement.
 
  • #54
Every home I've lived in in Kentucky (rural and large city) has had either a large crawlspace or basement. But, it seems many businesses do not have safe areas strong enough to withstand such monstrous storms. The storm that hit Mayfield was truly monstrous - and I dare not think what the death toll would be if that storm had hit a more populated area/city.

jmo
 
  • #55
Press conference, today, 12/13/21

 
  • #56
  • #57
fred&edna said:
Every home I've lived in in Kentucky (rural and large city) has had either a large crawlspace or basement. But, it seems many businesses do not have safe areas strong enough to withstand such monstrous storms. The storm that hit Mayfield was truly monstrous - and I dare not think what the death toll would be if that storm had hit a more populated area/city.

jmo
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Have you ever used your crawlspace for storm shelter? I've never done it, so just curious.
 
  • #58
CSIDreamer said:
Mayfield sounds like F5. There is a huge scar right through town. Buildings taken down to cement.

I know for a fact photographs are being found 160 miles away from some of the towns hit.
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Still looking like a strong F3 or weak F4 from the pictures. But since I am not there and they still haven't came out with an EF rating on the Mayfield tornado I could be wrong. But in my experience an F5 would have taken that candle factory down to bare concrete. Also no signs of grass being torn from the ground and the strong structures like the courthouse have mostly top/roof damage. Just my observation though since I am not a meteorologist.

The Enhanced Fujita Scale (EF Scale) (weather.gov)

Fujita scale - Wikipedia

F5 damage

F5 tornado damage example - Fujita scale - Wikipedia
 
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  • #59
64 dead, more than 100 still unaccounted in Kentucky tornado disaster (nbcnews.com)

Officials were struggling to count the dead due to the "amount of damage and rubble" in the area, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Monday.

Rescuers continued to search for survivors Monday after deadly tornadoes tore through Kentucky and neighboring states over the weekend, decimating entire towns and leaving dozens dead.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Monday that 64 people in the state were confirmed dead. He added that 105 people were unaccounted for, and at least 70 people were likely dead.

"But again, with this amount of damage and rubble, it will be a week or even more before we have a final count on the number of lost lives," he said. The "mountain of waste" included perished livestock.

Of those who are dead, 18 are unidentified. But the ones who have been identified range in age from five months to 86 years, Beshear said, his voice cracking. Six of the dead are younger than 18...
 
  • #60
JaneEyre said:
Kentucky IS used to tornadoes. I lived most of my adult life there. The notion that tornado alley is just through the great plains is outdated. (Scientists want us to quit using the term because it makes people outside of that area feel too safe.)

The frequently hit areas have been shifting east for some time and the deep south gets hit more often and worse than states like Oklahoma now. While Kentucky is not in the deep south, it is solidly within the current map for frequent tornadoes.

Study: Tornado Alley Shifting East
Click to expand...
I agree they are shifting east. Of course being old I remember some really bad tornados. But we haven't had many here in Oklahoma since the one in El Reno in 2013. I think it has to do with the earth shifting on it's axis during that huge earthquake in Sri Lanka. I think they said it shifted 4 degrees or about 40 miles. Tornados mostly travel the jet stream. If a cold or usually warm front comes in it stalls at the jet stream and if conditions are right, moisture, humidity, heat ect then a tornado will likely occur. Like I said the Doppler and TORCON system needs to be put in place further east now. Saying here "If the TORCON is high, watch the sky."

On another note, storm shelters and safe rooms are not that expensive. Safe rooms (which are the best since they can be installed in any room in the house) are sold at places like Home Depot and Lowes and easy to install in your house. Some for 1-2 people can be bought here cheaply and are priceless. Or if you can weld make your own.

Survive-a-Storm Shelters Twister Pod 4 ft. x 6 ft. Tornado Storm Shelter-SASAS04D - The Home Depot

I think a lot of the fatalities further east is due to people not being educated on tornado safety.

1. If you are in a car GET OUT!!!! You are safer lying flat on the ground and covering your head. Cars are death traps in a tornado and you cannot outrun one. You never know which way it will turn. I have seen them turn and double back on themselves going over the same area again.
2. If you are in a mobile home or trailer house GET OUT!!!! Those things are shredded even in an F2. Get to a neighbors house or shelter such as a school or other designated shelter.
3. If you live in a constructed home get to an interior room like a bathroom or closet. Preferably one with no windows. Cover yourself with blankets or a mattress. Get into the bathtub and cover yourself with a mattress. Many people have rode out a tornado in a bathtub with a mattress off their bed over them.

Remember people are killed by flying debris during a tornado. So get somewhere that anything flying through the air can't hit you.

Cover your head!!!!!!!!! Keep motorcycle helmets available for all members of your household. Good ones that cover your entire head. It could mean the difference between your surviving or dying.

Buy and have installed a certified storm cellar or safe room. Basements can offer some protection but remember the ceiling above your head is wood so it can collapse on you. Wouldn't recommend using the crawl space under your home either since you could end up with the entire house sitting on you if the tornado shifts your home off it's foundation.

JMO
 
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