Thumper
12-17-2020, 09:36 AM
We had a cold front roll in last evening and temps are s'posed to be in the 60's all day today. Ha! Anyway, late yesterday afternoon, we had a line of thunderstorms come in ahead of the front and a few 'naders touched down. Our tv sounded off with a 'nader warning about the same time both our cell phones started squealing with their weather warnings. Although we were alerted, we never noticed so much as flickering lights. Then the news reports came rolling in! It seems a 'nader touched down right down the street from us. It was a small area (they said it just dropped out of the sky, hit the ground and bounced right back up .... kind of "skipped along") The same line brought tornados through the area from the coast (Tampa area) all the way across to here. It's a mess this morning. Only three houses destroyed and a LOT of neighborhood damage, but luckily, no deaths or injuries reported. At one house, there was a HUGE oak tree in the yard that was turned into nothing but a pile of toothpicks, but the house was untouched! Weird. Anyway, although this was NOTHING compared to what youse dufes in the mid-west see, it was a little too close for comfort here. The worst damage is about a 10-15 min walk from our house, so I guess we dodged a bullet last evening.
I was amazed by the response. We're in the county (the city limit is my back fence-line!) and the Sheriff's Dept. had deputies on scene in 3 frigging minutes! Within mere minutes, there were deputies everywhere, emergency medical vehicles, the utility company, Red Cross ... you name it. It's like they were waiting around the corner and rolled out immediately. I'm not sure I've seen anything like it. Within the hour, the Sheriff's Dep't had their Emergency Response Team setting up their command center (very large, mobile home type trailer) set up in a church parking lot about a block from the damage and utility trucks were ALREADY there with loads of new power poles to replace the broken ones. I am in awe at how fast the emergency agencies responded and even with all the strife and b/s that's going on right now with National politics, when there's possible human suffering, it's amazing how rapidly people can pull together and offer a hand. The Sheriff's Dep't saturated the neighborhood and spent the whole night here to protect anyone's property that was left exposed due to the storm and the various response teams are in the neighborhood now that the sun is up, doing their assessments. Even the National Weather Service is here to verify that it was a tornado even though it showed up as one on radar (I guess they just have to make it official after analyzing the damage?)
Kudos to our county emergency agencies. The immediate response was impressive and there was absolutely no confusion. Tree crews went to work through the night, immediately clearing streets and people's driveways so residents can get to work this morning. The utility company worked through the night getting the power back on to those affected. The Red Cross procured shelter for those who lost their homes. The Sheriff's Dept. provided ample security and assistance. Fire Service and EMT's set up in the neighborhood until receiving the all-clear. If you can't tell by now, I'm just amazed at how coordinated and prepared our emergency personnel are in this area. I don't care what anybody says, even with all the political strife going on these days, we still live in the greatest country on planet earth.
I was amazed by the response. We're in the county (the city limit is my back fence-line!) and the Sheriff's Dept. had deputies on scene in 3 frigging minutes! Within mere minutes, there were deputies everywhere, emergency medical vehicles, the utility company, Red Cross ... you name it. It's like they were waiting around the corner and rolled out immediately. I'm not sure I've seen anything like it. Within the hour, the Sheriff's Dep't had their Emergency Response Team setting up their command center (very large, mobile home type trailer) set up in a church parking lot about a block from the damage and utility trucks were ALREADY there with loads of new power poles to replace the broken ones. I am in awe at how fast the emergency agencies responded and even with all the strife and b/s that's going on right now with National politics, when there's possible human suffering, it's amazing how rapidly people can pull together and offer a hand. The Sheriff's Dep't saturated the neighborhood and spent the whole night here to protect anyone's property that was left exposed due to the storm and the various response teams are in the neighborhood now that the sun is up, doing their assessments. Even the National Weather Service is here to verify that it was a tornado even though it showed up as one on radar (I guess they just have to make it official after analyzing the damage?)
Kudos to our county emergency agencies. The immediate response was impressive and there was absolutely no confusion. Tree crews went to work through the night, immediately clearing streets and people's driveways so residents can get to work this morning. The utility company worked through the night getting the power back on to those affected. The Red Cross procured shelter for those who lost their homes. The Sheriff's Dept. provided ample security and assistance. Fire Service and EMT's set up in the neighborhood until receiving the all-clear. If you can't tell by now, I'm just amazed at how coordinated and prepared our emergency personnel are in this area. I don't care what anybody says, even with all the political strife going on these days, we still live in the greatest country on planet earth.