Weather Lastnight

[ehenry]

Don't know how many of yall went through it lastnight but some really bad weather went through our way....It came up from south Texas. Bad thunder stornms, tornados, hail and such. We had plenty of warning of what was coming our way. There was one thing however that really impressed me....The county that I live in has a new emergency warning system that calls you and tells you that you are in the direct path of a tornado. It tells you where it was spotted, what direction its headed and how fast its traveling. This system called me 3 times lastnight and informed me of 3 different twisters that had been spotted. The first call came in around 1:30 a.m. and the last came around 2:45.<br /><br />Does anyone else's county have a system like this? I've lived here all my life and this is the first time I've been called and warned about bad weather. Needless to say I'm impressed and thankful for it. Its good to see some of the tax money going for something beneficial for EVERYONE.

 

[LadyFish]

Re: Weather Lastnight

Oh yeah EFHenry, those storms passed through here <br />about 11 last night. The weather report stated <br />that line of thunderstorms was traveling 55 mph <br />with winds in excess of 70 mph. We were under <br />tornado warnings and watches all day and all night<br /> til it passed. Apparently over 70 tornadoes <br />reported in the Houston and Galveston area. It put<br /> on quite a light show here.<br /><br /> Which reminds me, I need to check and see if<br /> we lost any shingles. Our house is on pylons that<br />sit 13 feet above ground. I can tell you the house<br /> was rockin and rollin last night and all my <br />pictures hanging on the wall are messed up today.<br /><br />Galveston County is also one that calls in severe <br />weather. However, right now its limited to tidal <br />flooding and hurricane watches and warnings for <br />evacuation purposes. They started it last year and<br />its a great system that'll save many lives. I'm <br />glad to hear that this is catchin on in other <br />areas. <br /><br />

some really bad weather went through our way....It came up from south Texas.

Glad to oblige, we heard y'all needed rain.

 

[Bass Man Bruce]

Re: Weather Lastnight

EF, Glad you and LF made it through the storms, and that new warning system sounds impressive, but it must be costing you guys an arm and a leg. We just have sirens and the taxes are outrageous.

 

[cajun555]

Re: Weather Lastnight

Don't know if we have that kind of system here but we do have the tornado sirens. <br /><br />West Dallas got hit pretty hard with straight line winds of 90mph. Tossed them semi's around like tin cans.<br /><br />Glad everyone made it through the storms ok.

 

[JasonB]

Re: Weather Lastnight

My neighborhood has warning sirens that go off.<br /><br />On the subject of the storm, I haven't heard of any twisters here in southern middle Tennessee, but the wind has been brutal for about 18 hours with sporadic rains and a temp drop of 20-20 degrees in the last 48 hours.

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Weather Lastnight

Originally posted by LadyFish:<br /> Which reminds me, I need to check and see if<br />we lost any shingles. Our house is on pylons that<br />sit 13 feet above ground. I can tell you the house was rockin and rollin last night and all my pictures hanging on the wall are messed up today.

LF, 13 feet high? Whadya have to do, take an elevator up from the garage? Either that or you must be in awful good shape. I hope you at least have a fire pole to get down.<br /><br />Earlier this year, I read Isaac's Storm. I don't think there were hardly any buildings in Galveston that were as high as your bottom floor. My FIL's mother, as a little girl, survived the Galveston Flood. It was quite a story as portrayed by the book.

 

[LadyFish]

Re: Weather Lastnight

Isaac's Storm is a great book. Here's a little recap which explains why we build the way we do.<br /><br />September 8, 1900, the deadliest natural disaster in United States history hit Galveston Island. A hurricane with winds over 120 miles per hour and tidal surge devastated the island and killed over 6,000 people. At the time of the 1900 storm, Galveston had a population of almost 38,000 and ranked fourth in the state. One-third of the city was completely destroyed. The bodies were weighted and buried at sea, but later washed ashore and were burned. The dead were uncovered at a rate of 70 per day for at least a month after the storm. <br /><br />To prevent such a natural disaster from devastating the island in such magnitude again, the city built a seawall seven miles long and 17 feet high and began a tremendous grade raising project. Galveston's Seawall now extends 54,790 feet, one-third of Galveston's ocean front. <br /><br />It stands 16 to 20 feet wide at the base and at the top ranges from three to five feet in width and is composed of granite, sandstone or concrete apron from 27 to 40 feet. Many structures were jacked up during the grade raising while dredges poured four to six feet of sand beneath them; in others the fill was pumped into the raised basements. Residents used elevated wooden sidewalks to walk through town. The grade raising project began in 1902 and was completed in 1910 and included 500 city blocks. <br /><br />On the west end of the island where we live, and other homes not protected by the seawall on the island, houses have to be built so many feet above MSL (Mean Sea Level). According to code you must have break away walls on the first level so that water from a tidal surge can pass underneath the house to prevent further damage.<br /><br />Boomyal, although we don't have an elevator, many people around us do. Carrying groceries up those stairs can get old. Thats why the longnecks are kept in the downstairs fridge.

 

[deputydawg]

Re: Weather Lastnight

We have weather alert radios that turn on, sound a tone, then broadcast weather until turned off. We also have sirens, but as learned last spring if the power goes out before the tornado hits the siren won't work.<br />One of our villages doesn't have a siren so when tornados are \headed that way we fly there in our patrol cars and warn everyone with the sirens and the PA.