Out here in Alabama we are having some really nasty weather today.

I live about 30 miles from Enterprise High School, which was torn up by a tornado.  So far 15 students and teachers have been reported killed.  And the Tornado Warning siren here in town has been going off all night long.

I am still trying to find out how some of my friends are doing.  I was at Enterprise High just over a year ago, when my ex-girlfriend's nephew graduated.  It was shocking to see how badly torn up it was.  And there have been over 20 tornados spotted within a 40 mile radius of where I live.

Hopefully things are going to be better tomorrow, because I gotta work my other job tomorrow night (Domino's).

I hope everybody else in the North and SE is getting through the storms OK.  This and the hurricanes are the only reason why I occasionally question my sanity by moving here from California.

wow...that's really sad to hear. :\'(

Out here in Alabama we are having some really nasty weather today.

I live about 30 miles from Enterprise High School, which was torn up by a tornado.  So far 15 students and teachers have been reported killed.  And the Tornado Warning siren here in town has been going off all night long.

I am still trying to find out how some of my friends are doing.  I was at Enterprise High just over a year ago, when my ex-girlfriend's nephew graduated.  It was shocking to see how badly torn up it was.  And there have been over 20 tornados spotted within a 40 mile radius of where I live.

Hopefully things are going to be better tomorrow, because I gotta work my other job tomorrow night (Domino's).

I hope everybody else in the North and SE is getting through the storms OK.  This and the hurricanes are the only reason why I occasionally question my sanity by moving here from California.


I'm glad to hear you are ok...I knew you lived around the Donthan area and when I heard this story on the news I had to come here and see if you were around.  The storm is still moving in my direction and they are predicting tornados in Eastern North Carolina.  I'll be half awake all night.

Anywho...once again, glad to hear that you're ok.

I'm glad to hear you are ok...I knew you lived around the Donthan area and when I heard this story on the news I had to come here and see if you were around.  The storm is still moving in my direction and they are predicting tornados in Eastern North Carolina.  I'll be half awake all night.

Anywho...once again, glad to hear that you're ok.


Thanks, and I will be hoping the same for you.  I know it is expected to hit NC soon.

I pay attention to NC weather, because I lived in Jacksonville for 4 years.  I still remember everybody thinking I was crazy when I was in California, but watched the news constantly to see what Hurricane Floyd was doing in 1999.  I was thankfull for the Internet, as I was able to see how much damage the area took.

The winds here are finally dying down, and the tornado alarm has not gone off in the last hour.  And they are not expecting anything else within the next 9-12 hours.  And I (along with everybody else in Enterprise) are thankfull for the US Army.  Enterprise High is less then 10 miles from Fort Rucker, and within 30 minutes the had sent Search & Rescue crews, along with 3 helicopters to help with the disaster relief.

I was just watching the news, and one of the missing is the son of an Army Captain stationed on the base.  The death tolls keep changing, and many are still missing.  I only hope that things are better in the morning, when more accurate information is finally collected.  But so far, it is somewhere between 8 and 15.

Snowing heavily over here.

I heard about this on the news yesterday. I'm glad you're ok, Mushroom.


My heart and throughts go out to all those families who have lost loved ones as well as to the entire community.



Cat

Over here in Georgia things also got pretty bad. One tornado went through Americus last night, which is about 30 miles from my house. It caused major damage to the hospital there, and supposedly two people were killed. That same storm passed within 10 miles of my house about an hour later. Thankfully no major damage was caused out this way.

Nothing happened here.  Just rain.

So sorry to hear about all the death and destruction from AL to GA.  Giant tornadoes in March?  Something's not right here!
:(

Glad you were spared it's wrath, Mush.


____________________________________________

Up here I was just on the cusp of the rain and the snow.  We had snow, then sleet, then freezing rain.  My driveway is on a downard incline.  I was inclined to stay home today....but I was too far behind in work at the office, so off I went.  I half dug out/half blasted out, churning up all that ice, snow, gravel, and mud.  I went fishtailing out into the road, thank god nobody was coming the other way.  Then the ice blocked up the storm drains causing a flood on 2A.  I pushed through that too, applying gentle taps on the brakes after to dry 'em out!

"When he clanged them together they played stormy weather..."
Yeah, I believe that fellow was from Mass too!

Our idea of "nasty weather" is 2 hours of steady rain.

Things sound pretty nasty up there in North America during this time of year. Rain, snow, tornadoes, ice, ...bizarre.

Sad story though.  :-\\

Things sound pretty nasty up there in North America during this time of year. Rain, snow, tornadoes, ice, ...bizarre.


And sometimes.....if you're lucky.....that'll happen in the same place in a span of a couple weeks!

Our idea of "nasty weather" is 2 hours of steady rain.

Things sound pretty nasty up there in North America during this time of year. Rain, snow, tornadoes, ice, ...bizarre.

Sad story though.  :-\\

Rain, snow, and ice is proper for this time of year.  In the South they don't get much snow and ice, but it rains a lot in the winter.  What is NOT normal for this time of year is a dozen tornadoes in 36 hours!

YOU get to live in NZ, lucky you!

In the South they don't get much snow and ice, but it rains a lot in the winter.


In the 6 years I've lived here, we've had some kind of ice storm each winter.  We get ice.  Snow....that's up in the mountains, and occasionally we'll get a flurry here, but it's never much and it's gone by sunrise.  The South gets more ice and snow than you think.  Obviously not in Florida, but SE Tennessee, NE and North Central Georgia, the Piedmonts in S.C and N.C.....definitely there.

Rain, snow, and ice is proper for this time of year.  In the South they don't get much snow and ice, but it rains a lot in the winter.  What is NOT normal for this time of year is a dozen tornadoes in 36 hours!


Actually, it is not all that unusual given the weather conditions.

What is unusual, is that a cold front stretches from Canada to the Gulf at this time of year.  And it just happened to happen at the same time that a warm front moved up from the Gulf.  Any time 2 fronts like that collide, you can get tornados.

What made it worse was that normally, the "thunder bands" clump together, so you only get 2 or 3 possible groupings of tornados.  This time, they spread out.  So you would just get past one, and another would move in.  We went through "Tornado Warnings" constantly for almost 18 hours.  The last time that happened was when Ivan came through a few years ago.

One group that I want to thank for their help was the US Army at Fort Rucker, and the Alabama National Guard.

The tornado struck Enterprise High at around 1pm.  The Mayor found out and contacted the Governor about 15 minutes later.  He was calling to ask for National Guard troops, and to ask the Governor to request US Army troops to help.

However, both groups were already in action on their own.  The first US Army Helicopter arrived from Fort Rucker (located on the East edge of Enterprise) 20 minutes after it was struck, while the tornado was still moving through the area.  And within 30 minutes, members of the National Guard started arriving, without even waiting for orders.

And without waiting to be asked, Dothan PD sent 20 police officers, and both the Fire Departments and the 2 Ambulance Companies sent all off-duty personel over to assist.  Their quick action helped prevent the death toll from rising any higher then it did.

Sadly, one of the students killed was the son of a Soldier that was on orders to report to Iraq next month.  The Army has already stated that they have placed his orders on "Permanent Hold", until the father feels capable of returning to full duty.

I also have heard about the death and damage in Americus.  It is a pretty little town, I passed through it a few years ago on one of my camping trips.  My prayers are going out to everybody affected by this storm.