Tornadoes and one smart purchase
A tornado (maybe two; they aren't sure) came through my little downtown last night. According to one station, the tornado went down Leroy, up Ellen, down Howard, then up Grange Hall. I live at about 50 yards from Howard and Ellen. It definitely started at US23 and Owen Rd (where it flattened the newly opened Tractor Supply Company store) and then did (reportedly) a LOT of damage in the downtown.
I wasn't at home at the time. I was at Mark's and happened to hear something about a possible tornado at Owen Rd. After calling a few friends so I could confirm that something had happened, Mark and I drove on up.
The first sign that something was wrong was the police not allowing people to turn onto Owen Road from US-23. So I went up to the next road, where I was then forced back onto the freeway as that road was closed, too. At the next exit, I was able to sneak around a police barricade by going down side streets. Everywhere we turned, roads were blocked by down trees (big ones) and power lines. There was no power and it was starting to get dark and people were just walking the streets kind of dazed.
After several minutes, I made it to Grange Hall - which was unrecognizable. Trees were down everywhere. I reached the Howard entrance to my sub and saw a line of fire trucks helping people. The first block of houses were destroyed: windows blown out, one house missing most of its second story (the one in the clip below), roofs gone, garage doors bubbled out. Mark even looked THROUGH one house as we passed it - it had a gaping hole.
Immediately past these houses are the railroad tracks where Howard and Ellen intersect. Beyond that intersection are my condos. The condos (at least on my street) were untouched. I pulled in my driveway and got out. The picket fence at the front was a little wobbly, but a package sitting on my front porch was dry (strange considering the amount of rain that fell). Mark and I went into the house and I fumbled in a drawer for a teeny flashlight. Out on the balcony, all my patio furniture was there. The grill had rolled on its wheels three feet from where it was and my little plant blew over, but that was IT. We made a quick search of the basement to make sure it hadn't flooded.
We decided to see if taking Ellen might be easier to get out. Needless to say, I made it about 100 feet down the road before it became apparent that that wasn't going to work. Every tree and power line was across the road. Every house had sustained major damage. We left the way we came.
It is amazing to me that only about a football field's distance determined whether something would be destroyed or untouched.
I guess that impulse purchase of a one-block force field wasn't so silly after all. ;)
I'm so glad I wasn't home at the time. I'm anxious to get back home and see how everything is trying to come back together.
Here's a story from the Flint news. The guy they're interviewing in the clip lives next to the railroad tracks.
I wasn't at home at the time. I was at Mark's and happened to hear something about a possible tornado at Owen Rd. After calling a few friends so I could confirm that something had happened, Mark and I drove on up.
The first sign that something was wrong was the police not allowing people to turn onto Owen Road from US-23. So I went up to the next road, where I was then forced back onto the freeway as that road was closed, too. At the next exit, I was able to sneak around a police barricade by going down side streets. Everywhere we turned, roads were blocked by down trees (big ones) and power lines. There was no power and it was starting to get dark and people were just walking the streets kind of dazed.
After several minutes, I made it to Grange Hall - which was unrecognizable. Trees were down everywhere. I reached the Howard entrance to my sub and saw a line of fire trucks helping people. The first block of houses were destroyed: windows blown out, one house missing most of its second story (the one in the clip below), roofs gone, garage doors bubbled out. Mark even looked THROUGH one house as we passed it - it had a gaping hole.
Immediately past these houses are the railroad tracks where Howard and Ellen intersect. Beyond that intersection are my condos. The condos (at least on my street) were untouched. I pulled in my driveway and got out. The picket fence at the front was a little wobbly, but a package sitting on my front porch was dry (strange considering the amount of rain that fell). Mark and I went into the house and I fumbled in a drawer for a teeny flashlight. Out on the balcony, all my patio furniture was there. The grill had rolled on its wheels three feet from where it was and my little plant blew over, but that was IT. We made a quick search of the basement to make sure it hadn't flooded.
We decided to see if taking Ellen might be easier to get out. Needless to say, I made it about 100 feet down the road before it became apparent that that wasn't going to work. Every tree and power line was across the road. Every house had sustained major damage. We left the way we came.
It is amazing to me that only about a football field's distance determined whether something would be destroyed or untouched.
I guess that impulse purchase of a one-block force field wasn't so silly after all. ;)
I'm so glad I wasn't home at the time. I'm anxious to get back home and see how everything is trying to come back together.
Here's a story from the Flint news. The guy they're interviewing in the clip lives next to the railroad tracks.