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On the tornadoes

It's beginning to sink in on me that I have not grasped the extent of the devastation from the tornadoes in north Alabama. Two things have helped bring it home to me: This map (a pdf file) shows the number, path, and intensity of the individual storms. Bear in mind that the typical touchdown point of a tornado is only a few hundred yards wide, or less, and not very long–a mile or two (four or five km), at least the ones I've had occasion to pay much attention to. Look at the distances on the map: 132 miles, 80 miles, 71 miles (211, 128, 113 km). And some of them were a mile wide, like the one that hit Tuscaloosa. That's basically like a bomb going off with an explosion covering an area of, in that first instance, 132 square miles. This is worse than most hurricanes.

The other thing is some pictures a friend sent me. They show a relative's house before and after the storm. It takes something specific like that for me to fully grasp the destruction. It was an expensive and beautiful house, full of handsome furniture, elaborately decorated. Now it's rubble. Moreover, it was only a few blocks from a house I once lived in, so I assume that house is gone, too.

This is to north Alabama what Katrina was to New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast, a catastrophe from which full recovery will take a generation or more. Figuratively and literally, the aftermath was "the darkest Alabama night in a century."

Maclin Horton

9 responses to “On the tornadoes”

  1. Dave

    Our prayers…
    And the super-cell tornado that took out much of Xenia in ’74, well, people in Xenia still get nervous when the weather gets a certain way. It will take a generation or more for Alabama too.

    Reply
  2. Janet

    Hi Dave.
    There’s an interesting video about that tornado here: http://www.ohiohistory.org/etcetera/exhibits/swio/pages/content/1974_tornado.htm
    It’s very similar to the pictures from Alabama.
    AMDG

    Reply
  3. Mac

    Mention of videos in the next post reminded me to look at this. There were some really bad tornadoes in Alabama in 1974, too. I’m not sure if they were on the same day or not. I remember my parents’ house had a fairly near miss.

    Reply
  4. Louise

    Remind me not to move to any place in the US (now looking less likely) which has tornadoes.
    Prayers for all the people affected.

    Reply
  5. JW

    With all the storm damage, I know many homeowners will be trying to secure their property and some will have to climb on their roofs. I would like to share some roof safety tips to help prevent any injury.
    Ladder safety.
    Falls are the number one cause of accidental death in the home. Even experienced builders and construction workers make mistakes, so here are the things you should always do when using a ladder.
    OSHA states that for every 4 feet a ladder goes up, it should come out 1 foot. If the roof is 12 feet high, the base of the ladder should be 3 feet from the drip edge of the roof.
    Next, the ladder must be level. If the ground is not level, move to a spot that is. The ladder must be set firmly and evenly on the ground. I prefer to fold out the ladder’s pointed feet and embed them into the yard. Others prefer to have the rubber feet on concrete. If you prefer the latter for your ladder, then be sure to sweep the concrete clean before setting the ladder to prevent it from sliding out.
    Securing the ladder:
    If possible, drill a hole in the fascia of the house and insert an eye hook or other means to tie the ladder to. We use two of them that are three quarters of an inch thick to tie our ladder to the roof. It is stronger than we should ever need, but your life is worth more than a few dollars and a few minutes to secure a ladder.
    Wear good fitting shoes or better yet, work boots! Don’t use flip flops or crocs, because if your foot rotates inside the shoe, you have a very good chance of falling off the roof and being hurt.
    If you are not stable on flat ground, please have someone else repair your roof.
    Finally, there are volumes of books on construction safety; please consider going to the OSHA website for more information.
    Those of you in the storm-hit areas have been though enough; there is no reason for anyone else to be hurt by having an accident on a ladder. With these tips, hopefully you will get your roof repaired quickly and safely

    Reply
  6. Sally Thomas

    Louise: The places here that don’t have tornadoes have earthquakes and/or hurricanes. And/or mudslides. And/or blizzards.
    Rain in Edinburgh ought to be sounding better and better and better . . .

    Reply
  7. Mac

    And floods. Don’t forget floods, a perennial favorite from Illinois to Mississippi and Louisiana. And in the dry places, brush fires.

    Reply
  8. Sally Thomas

    Oh, yes. How could I forget floods, when the Mississippi River is on people’s doorsteps (and in some places, in their beds)? My mother-in-law lives near the Wolf River in East Memphis, and is freaked out because her daughter told her that snakes would come up through the drains into her toilet.
    And in Utah, we used to lie in bed and try to figure out where the smoke we were smelling was coming from. Once it was the house around the corner, but usually it was a forest fire someplace up in the mountains.

    Reply
  9. Rodney Orton

    Good thing you’re safe and sound. Houses and things can be replaced, you and your loved ones are not. These tornadoes have shown us time and again who’s the boss. There is no such thing as a “storm-proof” house. But with proper materials and regular maintenance the danger is reduced greatly. I heard stories of houses surviving all but a direct hit from a tornado because of their tough construction. Just be always be careful.

    Reply

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