FA+
Shop
Dodged a bullet (actually a tornado) Scary times...
9 years ago
I AM OPEN FOR COMMISSIONS! Take a look at my price sheet with links to examples!!
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/5868382/
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/5868382/
So, on 11/30, some very bad storms came through Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee.
Usually the Appalachian Mountains block particularly bad weather. The last time I really remember really be scared about tornadoes was when Hurricane Hugo made its way through South Carolina. That was in 1989. I was a freshman in HIGH SCHOOL. (Yes, I a showing my age).
So, fast forward to now.
There was a really bad storm cell that came up from Atlanta, right towards us. I saw footage of what I believe was an EF0 (the weakest of the tornadoes) tornado ... IN DOWNTOWN ATLANTA. The storm cell headed roughly up I-85 towards upstate South Carolina. It caused some damage in Anderson, SC.
And then it hit Simpsonville, my home town.
It was a strong EF1 tornado, at least 110MPH. It could be upgraded later....
....And it was about 2 miles from my house.
We live in a neighborhood that you enter into from a kinda rural-ish road, with a few neighborhoods and a couple of churches. If you go about 2 miles down this road, you meet a main road that gets you to the highway, as well as downtown Simpsonville.
That road is called West Georgia Road.
According to the local news, the tornado was about 100 yards wide (thin) and lasted about 18 miles.
Part of the track of that tornado was on West Georgia Road, where it meets the road we travel down to get to it.
I didn't know much about this the night it happened, it was about 5PM on 11/30. So by the time the 6 O'clock news hit, there wasn't much into yet, and the 11 O'clock news it was too dark to see what happened. So I didn't think much about it, to be honest.
But I got to see the next day, December 1st (the day I am posting this).
I had already promised my brother I would babysit the kiddos, my niece and nephews several days before. I headed out, and the first inkling of a problem I had was when I had to detour down that semi-rural road I was talking about before.
So I took a long away around, and eventually got back to West Georgia Road, the second road I was talking about.
And that was when I saw it.
I will never be able to forget it, it is burned into my mind forever. This is the first time I have seen tornado damage first hand.
There were huge lines of trees down, houses with giant holes in thier roofs, all sorts of debris around.
I was.. rattled. I still had to drive, but all I could say was "oh my god, oh my god".. and then i just went silent. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, and I couldn't believe it was so fucking close to us.
That could have been us.
This website has some videos. There is a newscast, then lower on the page there are 2 parts of video they took from a helicopter, no audio, just video. But for that first video on that page, the woman in the red dress, who says that she is on West Georgia Road, is a couple hundred yards from our turnoff onto that rural road.
http://www.wyff4.com/article/strong.....h-area/8384206
(Yes, our local news is WYFF. I have heard all the "yiff" jokes.)
And here is a slideshow with pictures from that website as well.
http://www.wyff4.com/article/pictur.....pstate/8386927
So yeah.. I am a little shaken.. and A LOT grateful.
Usually the Appalachian Mountains block particularly bad weather. The last time I really remember really be scared about tornadoes was when Hurricane Hugo made its way through South Carolina. That was in 1989. I was a freshman in HIGH SCHOOL. (Yes, I a showing my age).
So, fast forward to now.
There was a really bad storm cell that came up from Atlanta, right towards us. I saw footage of what I believe was an EF0 (the weakest of the tornadoes) tornado ... IN DOWNTOWN ATLANTA. The storm cell headed roughly up I-85 towards upstate South Carolina. It caused some damage in Anderson, SC.
And then it hit Simpsonville, my home town.
It was a strong EF1 tornado, at least 110MPH. It could be upgraded later....
....And it was about 2 miles from my house.
We live in a neighborhood that you enter into from a kinda rural-ish road, with a few neighborhoods and a couple of churches. If you go about 2 miles down this road, you meet a main road that gets you to the highway, as well as downtown Simpsonville.
That road is called West Georgia Road.
According to the local news, the tornado was about 100 yards wide (thin) and lasted about 18 miles.
Part of the track of that tornado was on West Georgia Road, where it meets the road we travel down to get to it.
I didn't know much about this the night it happened, it was about 5PM on 11/30. So by the time the 6 O'clock news hit, there wasn't much into yet, and the 11 O'clock news it was too dark to see what happened. So I didn't think much about it, to be honest.
But I got to see the next day, December 1st (the day I am posting this).
I had already promised my brother I would babysit the kiddos, my niece and nephews several days before. I headed out, and the first inkling of a problem I had was when I had to detour down that semi-rural road I was talking about before.
So I took a long away around, and eventually got back to West Georgia Road, the second road I was talking about.
And that was when I saw it.
I will never be able to forget it, it is burned into my mind forever. This is the first time I have seen tornado damage first hand.
There were huge lines of trees down, houses with giant holes in thier roofs, all sorts of debris around.
I was.. rattled. I still had to drive, but all I could say was "oh my god, oh my god".. and then i just went silent. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, and I couldn't believe it was so fucking close to us.
That could have been us.
This website has some videos. There is a newscast, then lower on the page there are 2 parts of video they took from a helicopter, no audio, just video. But for that first video on that page, the woman in the red dress, who says that she is on West Georgia Road, is a couple hundred yards from our turnoff onto that rural road.
http://www.wyff4.com/article/strong.....h-area/8384206
(Yes, our local news is WYFF. I have heard all the "yiff" jokes.)
And here is a slideshow with pictures from that website as well.
http://www.wyff4.com/article/pictur.....pstate/8386927
So yeah.. I am a little shaken.. and A LOT grateful.
But dang, that photo of the chair stuck in the side of the house!!!
It makes me wonder if there is any way to look up what kinda of winds and stress my house is capable of withstanding. Its less than 10 years old, so I hope maybe its better than average, but who knows.
*Hugs* Happy you're okay though!