I don't know how many people paid to watch the film Sharknado, or for that matter, Sharknado II, III or XXVI. And I don't know how many of those who paid to see the film(s) enjoyed it. Probably more than would admit it.
But I know of plenty of people around here who would have paid not to see Tornado - Garland Edition, which opened suddenly on Sunday, October 20, 2019.
My cell does not receive the typical bad weather alerts issued the authorities. My wife's phone gathers every watch and warning sent out. The text alerts are almost always "severe thunderstorm warning" (yeah, we got that clue when we heard the thunder and saw all of the lightning 5 minutes ago, thanks for the information). But this time was different. I did receive on my phone, a red screen with the text, Tornado Warning. I had to do the mental calculation for this part of the world; Watch = "It might happen, be alert to the possibility", versus Warning = "It's happening! It's happening now!" We were advised to tune into local media for further information.
NBC was airing the Cowboys vs the Eagles NFL football game, everyone knows that is sacrosanct in these parts; no way NBC was going to break away from what really matters to alert the populace of a tornado on the ground. Heck, millions are interested in the Dallas Cowboys, but what's the worst that can happen? Maybe 20 or so people get killed? One has to weigh the factors involved; millions of viewers vs a relatively few people in harms way. Cowboys win! That one was easy.
We turned to Fox News and listened to their team of meteorologists and watched their Doppler radar feed which showed red/green pixels indicating rotation in the atmosphere; in plain English, a tornado. Confirmation reports were broadcast of a tornado on the ground near Love Field Airport, west side of Dallas. We were watching this report unfold in Garland, northeast of Dallas. Tornadoes always travel southwest to northeast. Tornadoes are often on the ground for only a mile or two. Albeit, a destructive mile or two, but though it can happen, the path of destruction is not usually measured in multiple miles. I felt that the dangerous circulation being tracked on radar would dissipate before it came the 20 miles or so to our neighborhood. But I kept a watchful eye as long as we had power.
Sue asked if she should get our tornado shelter space ready? I told her the prediction was for this tornado to reach Garland by 9:31, and yikes! the part of Garland projected to be in its path was right were we were watching from our imperiled two-story house. In answer to your question dear; "Yes, I think it would be a good idea to clear out our tornado shelter." Our tornado shelter is the closet space under the staircase. It is in the middle of the house, away from windows and doors. Since we are lacking a basement, it seems like it fits most of the criteria recommended for those who wish to remain in Texas rather than being transported to Oz. I watched the TV (such a man-thing - right?) while my wife hauled out the vacuum cleaner, boxes of board games and some nice looking Montana agates that are stored in the coat closet under the staircase. I suggested we grab the pillows from the bed for additional protection. We closed the window blinds, removed items from the mantle and placed them at floor level.
Sue asked, "What about the tortoises? Where should we put them?"
I said "They're hibernating. They aren't listening to the news alerts, I don't think they are too worried. Besides they're low to the ground and have hard shells, they should be fine."
"No. Like are they good where they are?"
"I think so. We don't have room to put the four of them in the tiny closet with us."
I watched the Doppler signal grow ever closer to the major intersection near our house. Sue had made a cozy little storm nest. It was ready 10 minutes before the projected hit. I watched the TV coverage up until the forecast tornado was said to be about 3 minutes from our house. I turned up the volume of the TV as we tucked ourselves in beneath the coat rack and shut the door. I turned to my wife, "I think we are going to loose our roof in a few minutes."
We waited. We listened. We heard no rain. We heard no wind. We heard no 'freight train' noise, as all survivors of tornadoes declare they hear the sound of a freight train prior to destruction.
"My legs are cramped." I admitted after squatting in the dark for several minutes.
"Yeah, my neck's got a kink in it." Said my storm closet companion.
"OK. I think we're safe. Let's get out of here." I opened the door and took my turn to reassemble the house back to its original order, including stacking the games, agates and vacuum cleaner back into the tornado shelter. Strange. There was almost no rain or wind during this event, even though we were in the cross-hairs based on sophisticated weather radar.
+++
The sun came up Monday and it was a nice day after a big 1 AM electrical storm (no severe weather or tornadic activity with this second storm system roaring through Garland). I had a Monday morning meeting outside of Fort Worth to show one of my oil prospects. I had spent 8 hours in my office on Saturday putting together the needed maps and exhibits for my presentation. I had decided to put everything I needed in my car, so I didn't need to travel the 6 miles back to my office to pick everything up. I'd was prepared to leave from home and drive directly to Ft. Worth. Good choice as it turns out.
Upon my return to Garland mid afternoon, it was taking me an inordinate amount of time to navigate back to my office due to heavy traffic. Weird. As I get close to my building on Shiloh Road, my usual route is blocked by emergency vehicles, police and fire. I reroute myself and pull in from the west. There are only a few cars in the office parking lot and many electric utility trucks. The hand-written sign on the building door says, "Building Closed. No Power."
I survey my surroundings and I see that there is a plenitude of storm damage along Shiloh. I go home. I check emails and see one from the building management. "Storm damage, no power until further notice."
I hear nothing by Tuesday, so I drive into work in the morning to see what is happening. Still no power, so I climb the darkened stairwell using my cell phone flashlight app to my second floor office. I return some paper work to my desk and then leave. No electricity, no computer, means no work in the 21st Century.
One of the building maintenance guys shares his phone photos of the destruction with me. The tornado hit the trucking depot at the lot to the west and then traveled northeast and smashed the unused (just completed) warehouse immediately to the north.
Wow. That was close. Absolutely no damage to the office and despite the predicted path, no damage our home either.
Later in the week, I took some photos along Shiloh Road of the tornado's destruction. It lasted about 1/4 of a mile, had winds estimated at 135 MPH. Destroyed the warehouse, damaged 15-20 homes but neither killed nor injured anyone.
National Weather Service inspection teams combed the area and destruction sites in the following days. The final report identified 10 tornadoes in the area that night, no deaths, only a couple of minor injuries.
Even the sophisticated news weather radar didn't show 10 tornadoes. The point being, they could drop on you out of anywhere - just ask the witch with ruby slippers. The EF-3 twister documented above at Shiloh and Miller Roads was not identified on radar.
Coming up on Thanksgiving, we have many things to be thankful for. Including our distance from the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific, otherwise it could have been worse. It could have been Sharknado XXVII!
But I know of plenty of people around here who would have paid not to see Tornado - Garland Edition, which opened suddenly on Sunday, October 20, 2019.
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| This could have been us - but it wasn't |
My cell does not receive the typical bad weather alerts issued the authorities. My wife's phone gathers every watch and warning sent out. The text alerts are almost always "severe thunderstorm warning" (yeah, we got that clue when we heard the thunder and saw all of the lightning 5 minutes ago, thanks for the information). But this time was different. I did receive on my phone, a red screen with the text, Tornado Warning. I had to do the mental calculation for this part of the world; Watch = "It might happen, be alert to the possibility", versus Warning = "It's happening! It's happening now!" We were advised to tune into local media for further information.
NBC was airing the Cowboys vs the Eagles NFL football game, everyone knows that is sacrosanct in these parts; no way NBC was going to break away from what really matters to alert the populace of a tornado on the ground. Heck, millions are interested in the Dallas Cowboys, but what's the worst that can happen? Maybe 20 or so people get killed? One has to weigh the factors involved; millions of viewers vs a relatively few people in harms way. Cowboys win! That one was easy.
We turned to Fox News and listened to their team of meteorologists and watched their Doppler radar feed which showed red/green pixels indicating rotation in the atmosphere; in plain English, a tornado. Confirmation reports were broadcast of a tornado on the ground near Love Field Airport, west side of Dallas. We were watching this report unfold in Garland, northeast of Dallas. Tornadoes always travel southwest to northeast. Tornadoes are often on the ground for only a mile or two. Albeit, a destructive mile or two, but though it can happen, the path of destruction is not usually measured in multiple miles. I felt that the dangerous circulation being tracked on radar would dissipate before it came the 20 miles or so to our neighborhood. But I kept a watchful eye as long as we had power.
Sue asked if she should get our tornado shelter space ready? I told her the prediction was for this tornado to reach Garland by 9:31, and yikes! the part of Garland projected to be in its path was right were we were watching from our imperiled two-story house. In answer to your question dear; "Yes, I think it would be a good idea to clear out our tornado shelter." Our tornado shelter is the closet space under the staircase. It is in the middle of the house, away from windows and doors. Since we are lacking a basement, it seems like it fits most of the criteria recommended for those who wish to remain in Texas rather than being transported to Oz. I watched the TV (such a man-thing - right?) while my wife hauled out the vacuum cleaner, boxes of board games and some nice looking Montana agates that are stored in the coat closet under the staircase. I suggested we grab the pillows from the bed for additional protection. We closed the window blinds, removed items from the mantle and placed them at floor level.
Sue asked, "What about the tortoises? Where should we put them?"
I said "They're hibernating. They aren't listening to the news alerts, I don't think they are too worried. Besides they're low to the ground and have hard shells, they should be fine."
"No. Like are they good where they are?"
"I think so. We don't have room to put the four of them in the tiny closet with us."
I watched the Doppler signal grow ever closer to the major intersection near our house. Sue had made a cozy little storm nest. It was ready 10 minutes before the projected hit. I watched the TV coverage up until the forecast tornado was said to be about 3 minutes from our house. I turned up the volume of the TV as we tucked ourselves in beneath the coat rack and shut the door. I turned to my wife, "I think we are going to loose our roof in a few minutes."
We waited. We listened. We heard no rain. We heard no wind. We heard no 'freight train' noise, as all survivors of tornadoes declare they hear the sound of a freight train prior to destruction.
"My legs are cramped." I admitted after squatting in the dark for several minutes.
"Yeah, my neck's got a kink in it." Said my storm closet companion.
"OK. I think we're safe. Let's get out of here." I opened the door and took my turn to reassemble the house back to its original order, including stacking the games, agates and vacuum cleaner back into the tornado shelter. Strange. There was almost no rain or wind during this event, even though we were in the cross-hairs based on sophisticated weather radar.
+++
The sun came up Monday and it was a nice day after a big 1 AM electrical storm (no severe weather or tornadic activity with this second storm system roaring through Garland). I had a Monday morning meeting outside of Fort Worth to show one of my oil prospects. I had spent 8 hours in my office on Saturday putting together the needed maps and exhibits for my presentation. I had decided to put everything I needed in my car, so I didn't need to travel the 6 miles back to my office to pick everything up. I'd was prepared to leave from home and drive directly to Ft. Worth. Good choice as it turns out.
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| Tornado Damage being repaired Along Shiloh Road, outside my office window |
Upon my return to Garland mid afternoon, it was taking me an inordinate amount of time to navigate back to my office due to heavy traffic. Weird. As I get close to my building on Shiloh Road, my usual route is blocked by emergency vehicles, police and fire. I reroute myself and pull in from the west. There are only a few cars in the office parking lot and many electric utility trucks. The hand-written sign on the building door says, "Building Closed. No Power."
I survey my surroundings and I see that there is a plenitude of storm damage along Shiloh. I go home. I check emails and see one from the building management. "Storm damage, no power until further notice."
 |
| Tornado Destruction From Office Building Rooftop |
I hear nothing by Tuesday, so I drive into work in the morning to see what is happening. Still no power, so I climb the darkened stairwell using my cell phone flashlight app to my second floor office. I return some paper work to my desk and then leave. No electricity, no computer, means no work in the 21st Century.
One of the building maintenance guys shares his phone photos of the destruction with me. The tornado hit the trucking depot at the lot to the west and then traveled northeast and smashed the unused (just completed) warehouse immediately to the north.
Wow. That was close. Absolutely no damage to the office and despite the predicted path, no damage our home either.
Later in the week, I took some photos along Shiloh Road of the tornado's destruction. It lasted about 1/4 of a mile, had winds estimated at 135 MPH. Destroyed the warehouse, damaged 15-20 homes but neither killed nor injured anyone.
 |
| The NE corner remains standing, the rest of the recently constructed (and still unoccupied) warehouse on the lot north of my business office was crumpled. My office building the the glass 6-story building on the middle horizon |
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| Tornado debris piled along Shiloh Road. Metal from the destroyed warehouse was ripped and thrown across the road, damaging houses. (My office stands in the distance) |
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| Blue tarps cover missing roofs. Clean-up crews started immediately to saw downed trees and clear the streets for traffic. |
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| Tornado EF-3 results: Missing roof, snapped tree limbs and building material carried around 200 yards, landing about 20 feet up in a tree. |
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| The hanging tree |
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| Roof Repair? What Roof? This house is 2 lots east of Shiloh Road. Destroyed warehouse in the background. |
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| Tree limbs stripped in 135 MPH winds. Undamaged warehouse (identical to the one destroyed) in the background. |
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| Snapped power pole. |
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| Collapsed building. But by the grace of God, there go I. |
National Weather Service inspection teams combed the area and destruction sites in the following days. The final report identified 10 tornadoes in the area that night, no deaths, only a couple of minor injuries.
Even the sophisticated news weather radar didn't show 10 tornadoes. The point being, they could drop on you out of anywhere - just ask the witch with ruby slippers. The EF-3 twister documented above at Shiloh and Miller Roads was not identified on radar.
Coming up on Thanksgiving, we have many things to be thankful for. Including our distance from the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific, otherwise it could have been worse. It could have been Sharknado XXVII!
