Discussion of tornadoes in the southern US

[Disneyphile]

Reporting from Tuscaloosa, Ala.— A historic tornado outbreak battered six Southern states, swooping like a deadly scythe from Mississippi to New York, killing hundreds, injuring many more, flattening neighborhoods and forcing the closure of a nuclear power plant in Alabama, the hardest-hit state.

Search and rescue teams combed through the matchstick remains of homes and businesses in several states Thursday looking for survivors or bodies as residents grappled with grief and the struggle for food, water and shelter. It is believed to be the deadliest U.S. tornado toll in 37 years.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld ... 4757.story

[Disney's Divinity]

All these weather disasters amaze me. Partly because some people still insist that global warming doesn’t exist.

It reminds me of that phrase that religious people always use? “You may not believe in [global warming], but [global warming] believes in you.”

[UmbrellaFish]

I live in Northeast Tennessee, and here the weather is practically always pleasant. We're too far from the coast to be affected by hurricanes, besides rainshowers, we've never had an earthquake, even though a huge fault line supposedly runs under the state, and tornadoes, while not out of the question, have never been a major worry to anyone here, and they've always been written off because "the mountains will protect us." Obviously, that didn't hold true.

My Wednesday night wasn't too bad, my family huddled together downstairs, and it wasn't until the next day I realized just how bad this weather was. Thankfully, my family and I remained completely safe, as did the house. This was surprising because there are a few dead trees on our neighbors' property that are directly next to driveway, and we expected that one might fall. There wasn't even a branch on the ground.

They canceled school on Thursday, so we traveled around the area and then it really hit me how bad this was. Whole roofs were apart from houses, shingles and debris in people's yards, and huge, ancient trees smashed into people's home. My old elementary school sustained $30,000 worth of damages.

I'm just glad I was lucky, but my heart goes out to those who've lost their houses or loved ones. And we weren't even one of the worst hit places in the South. I can only imagine how much worse it must be for people in Alabama.

[PixarFan2006]

Where I live, we rarely get tornadoes, and when we do, they almost never touch down. I guess that's one of the benefits of living in Michigan.

I do feel bad though for those who lost their homes and their loved ones to the storms.

[ajmrowland]

My neighborhood got hit, even though we're not in the south. Trees down everywhere. A couple weeks ago

[Disneyphile]

And another round of tornadoes has struck the central US. Missouri is the hardest hit this time.