I am back online and feel so relieved because my family and I are safe and our house is fine. I have cried for my fellow Hood Co. " neighbors" since word of the tornado and loss of lives and many severe injuries were reported on DFW news late Wed night. i am so heartsick over the loss of life and the 7-8 people(reported to all be adults) still missing.
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The major tornado which touched down in Granbury went over our house in unincorporated Hood Co, but, thank God, did not touch down at that point. My " storm spotter" husband saw it go over while I was in a small room under the stairs with our dogs. We were incredibly lucky and tornadoes are incredibly unpredictable as far as where they touch down.
I would like to say something about the efficiency of this little county's emergency notification system and the somewhat erroneous reports that seemed to indicate that we, that is, Granbury and Hood Co. were unprepared for the incoming storm.
There have been some people interviewed in videos who have said there was no advance warning. This is definitely not the case unless a person was in their car without a radio. Storm cells producing multiple tornadoes were reported in breaking news interruptions on all TV outlets and on radio stations throughout the area and in the DFW metro area for several hours before we even had rain.
I called my husband at his office in Fort Worth and asked him to please come home early, very early as the storm cells west of Granbury were worsening. He came home around 5 PM, thank goodness.
Next, Hood Co. has a progressive emergency notification system for a mostly rural county. There is a voluntary system called " Code Red" which all residents of the county can sign up for online or by phone. When there is an emergency or threat of emergency situation in the part of the county where the registered residents are located, we are notified by our pre-registered phone call, email or text. We have 3 phone numbers registered and all were called with the pre-recorded message to seek shelter immediately due to the worsening storm conditions as soon as the NWS had issued a tornado warning for Hood Co. There was time to get to a safe room. By super cell storm system criteria, this was a slow- moving storm cell.
Lastly, Hood Co. is in very close proximity to a nuclear power plant, Comanche Peak. Therefore, there are warning sirens in place all over the county which are also used to warn of approaching tornadoes or possible tornadoes. I can vouch for their chilling loudness and effective warning starting around 6: 45 Wednesday evening and continuing for what seemed like hours.
Residents had time to shelter in place. I think most people did the best they could to protect themselves.
This does not mean that houses in the direct path of a EF-4 tornado would remain standing or that the occupants would survive, as we know.
For those who are not familiar with Texas, the soil conditions are not conducive to houses being built with basements, which was a shock for me when we moved to the state. Also, for reasons I cannot explain, to the best of my knowledge, there are no to very few designated community storm shelters such as our well- built brick schools and churches for people who live in manufactured housing or who are traveling on our roadways and get " stuck" in a major storm system to evacuate to. I can't find an answer as to " why no shelters" but it is a huge deficit compared to what exists in most of the southern part of the country, IMO.
If you live in a tornado- prone area without effective storm shelters, this link may be of interest to you. We are making plans now to have a free- standing shelter erected in our house.
http://www.dallasnews.com/lifestyle...f-tornado-protection-for-dallas-residents.ece
Those of us locally who are lucky enough to still have a home are donating time and services to the shelters and also to the animal shelters for displaced animals, and we will continue to help out.
I am so concerned that Sheriff Deeds is reporting that 7-8 adults are still missing. If anyone has survived being trapped in rubble for just over 24 hours, tomorrow's temp. is expected to hit 90 degrees.
Please pray.
