St. Louis Digging Out After Tornado Hits Airport. It's All Perfectly Fine, Nothing Unusual Here.
(You might want to turn down the sound, the music is really loud.)
They say nothing like this has ever happened before, but it looks like we're going to have to get used to these unusually strong and frequent extreme weather events. It's the new normal! Via Raw Story:
Crews worked on Saturday to get St. Louis' tornado-battered airport ready to reopen after it was hit by a roaring storm that also damaged hundreds of houses, tossed cars and knocked out power.
Several injuries were reported but no fatalities.
A preliminary count showed at least 750 homes were damaged, Governor Jay Nixon told reporters after touring the area by air. Fewer than 100 homes were completely destroyed, he said.
Near a highway overpass about 10 miles from downtown St. Louis trees had been snapped like toothpicks, metal was twisted in piles, broken glass covered the ground.
Among the wrecked building's was 58-year-old chiropractor Dennis Baker's office, which lost its roof in the storm.
"The wind had whipped around inside with such force that it just tore everything apart," Baker told Reuters, mopping his brow as he took a break from clearing debris.
"We found the roof sitting in our parking lot and we just started in trying to get the important stuff out," Baker said, saying he and his wife worked from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. using the light from a small flashlight.
[...] Governor Nixon declared a state of emergency and released state funds to help in the cleanup.
He also spoke to President Barack Obama, who pledged his full support and assistance with recovery efforts, according to a statement from the governor's office.
The tornado that ripped through Maryland Heights was an EF4.
The good news is that no one died. Some slackers in the local media are quick to pull the miracle card, but it was good old fashioned serendipity and the National Weather Service that kept people safe friday night.
Thank You National Weather Service!
'Talk to the hand'
Uh oh, a government agency that actually works. Better cut its funding immediately.
For that matter, let's cut FEMA too. Why should we help people who were stoopit enough to build their homes in the path of a tornado? I mean, c'mon. They can just sue the tornado, let the free market take care of them - or their Jesus churches. Well, the ones that are still standing.
/s
I understand that most churches have insurance for such "acts of god".............WHAT?
'Talk to the hand'
"Uh oh, a government agency that actually works. Better cut its funding immediately."
The original House Republican 2011 budget would have cut the National Weather Service budget almost 30 percent for April to September forcing rolling closures of offices for a month at a time. How many might have died if the St Louis office had been closed this month?
The midwest has never seen tornados before.
Its part of the Reagan / Bush legacy.
Now I'm off to worldnutdaily to ready that this is the sign of the rapture because of gay marriage.
Twice the number we had last year.
A former award-winning journalist and lifelong class warrior, keeping a jaundiced eye on the Washington elite.
But the Storm Prediction Center advises on their Tornado Statistics Page that the number for Feb, March and April 2011 are preliminary:
They only just now have the actual number for Jan 2011. So the actual count could be higher or lower. Also, it's hard to draw any conclusions from one year's weather data, our weather is such a large set of data that it allows for lots of unpredictability looking year to year.
Source, Storm Prediction Center
Looking for some possible scientific sources for Susie's assertion and inference.
It isn't this, on statistics, although it certainly shows record preliminary reports. But not twice the number. Way more than that!
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/online/monthly/...
Certainly not this for the inference:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/...
I know! It must be this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPWenQxryr4
If not, maybe it is the circular air patterns caused by Obama's shifting statements in favor of protecting and cutting Social Security.
TFR
The new normal is that tornadoes have seen the oppression of the poor and working classes, and are avoiding their usual prey, the Southern trailer park. They now feed on the rich and traveling businessmen.
Learned anything from Mama Nature yet?
BTW, in 1995, a tornado marched down the main street of Red Bank. TN, taking down an insurance agency, an apartment complex, and several other businesses. It doglegged so it could skip the Baptist church. I am not making this up. One preacher will have to forever monitor himself for the Sin of Pride.
These people still have money for emergencies? I thought Paul Ryan cut it all and The Unions ate the rest.
I went to the You Tube site- and many people are commenting about the interesting choice of music (the guy who shot the video said he couldn't use the original sound because of the cussing he did). Anyone know what that is? He didn't post the name on the You Tube site.
I went back to the site- and saw that they did post the music. It's called "An Epic Age," by Immediate.
I was trying to figure out what exactly Susie is referring to by that statement? Hitting an airport? Cuz that cain't be right. On a side note, I was an eyewitness to the Oklahoma tornado of May 1999, an F-5 a mile wide that didn't just blow stuff around, but literally demolished everything in its path. Made Midwest City, OK look like NE Japan right about now, no joke. Nothingness where there was lots of somethingness. Churches and all ;n)
I second the hearty thanks to the National Weather Service, we rely on them and our expert weather reporters (who I think are some of the highest paid in the country) and the storm chasers (yes, they really exist, God bless 'em) to save lives every year, and they do.
The greatest number of tornadoes in any month previously was 543 in May 2003:
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/may2003.htm
Preliminary numbers for April 2011 are 559 so far with a week to go:
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/online/monthly/...
The margin of this new record will likely grow this week:
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/outlook/
Verbatim from from your second link (the Caps are NOAA's):
TFR
http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/n...
A former award-winning journalist and lifelong class warrior, keeping a jaundiced eye on the Washington elite.
The cheese factor of the video is so high it's embarrassing.
Goodnight, Frau Blücher
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