Natural Disasters
Tornado took woman from son's arms
11:11 PM CST on Sunday, November 13, 2005
Associated Press
WOODWARD, Iowa – Residents in central Iowa returned to what they hoped would still be intact homes after twisters swept through and killed one person on Saturday.
AP
Robert Carlson surveyed the damage in Stratford, Iowa, on Sunday, a day after a tornado ripped the roof off his home. Tornadoes tore through at least 10 Iowa towns on Saturday.
Tornadoes also caused damage in a number of other areas, said Gary Foster, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. The governor declared the two hard-hit counties north of Des Moines disaster areas.
Lucille Runyan, 84, of Stratford, was killed.
Her son, Ron Runyan, said he was trying to get his mother into her basement when the wind "took her away from me," he said. "It was so dirty, I couldn't see her, and that was it."
Officials in Hamilton County said as many as 30 homes in Stratford were destroyed. In Woodward, at least 40 were severely damaged.
"It's amazing. If you've seen the damage here, we had homes that were just obliterated, and they had people in them at the time it came through," Dallas County Sheriff Brian Gilbert said.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/nation/stories/111405dnnatstorm.74c072c.html
Tornado demolishes homes; football fans seek shelter in Hilton
A tornado roars through an Ames neighborhood after leveling one home, damaging several others and downing trees and power lines Saturday. Several tornadoes touched down in central Iowa causing at least one death and destroying several homes and businesses. The storm caused fans at the Iowa State-Colorado football game to evacuate Jack Trice Stadium.
http://www.iowastatedaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/11/14/437806f51cf8e
Iowa residents find homes destroyed by tornado, belongings scattered
21:58:00 EST Nov 13, 2005
WOODWARD, Iowa (AP) - Jackie and Bill Seeman sorted through the wreckage of their home Sunday to see what was spared by a tornado that killed one person and damaged dozens of homes across central Iowa.
They were delighted to find a few collectibles, but their car was covered with rubble and their boat had been tossed hundreds of metres away.
"We'll probably stay here, although I'd like to go somewhere without a tornado," Jackie Seeman said, and started to cry.
Twisters swept across two counties north of Des Moines on Saturday afternoon, ripping up farms and dozens of homes in the towns of Stratford and Woodward. Tornadoes also caused damage in a number of other areas, said Gary Foster, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. The governor declared the two hard-hit counties disaster areas.
One person, Lucille Runyan, 84, of Stratford, was killed.
Her son, Ron Runyan, said he was trying to get his mother into her basement when the wind "took her away from me," he said.
"It was so dirty, I couldn't see her, and that was it."
His sister, Nancy Runyan, 53, fell under the stairs and was hospitalized with a broken hip, he said.
Officials in Hamilton County said as many as 30 homes in Stratford were destroyed. In Woodward, at least 40 were severely damaged. Search dogs were brought in to check the rubble, but authorities said they believed all residents were accounted for.
"It's amazing. If you've seen the damage here, we had homes that were just obliterated, and they had people in them at the time it came through," said Dallas County Sheriff Brian Gilbert.
In Stratford, a town of about 750 residents, people were asked to stay away Sunday to give repair crews room to work, said Chris Segar, a communications supervisor with the Hamilton County sheriff's office. The Red Cross set up a relief centre for those affected by the storm, he said.
Gov. Tom Vilsack declared both Hamilton and Dallas counties as disaster areas, making them eligible for state assistance. David Miller, administrator of the state Department of Homeland Security, said the cleanup and rebuilding could take up to a year.
"Tornadoes in November in Iowa just aren't supposed to happen," Vilsack said.
Iowa has had just 23 November tornadoes since 1950, according to weather service records, but the conditions were right Saturday, with unseasonably warm weather in the way of a fast-moving cold front.
The previous weekend, another tornado ripped through western Kentucky and Southwest Indiana, killing 22 people.
Officials with the National Weather Service said assessment teams were travelling through Iowa's damaged communities to determine the strength and number of tornadoes that hit.
http://www.cbc.ca/cp/world/051113/w111352.html
Tornado blows through Bay of Plenty
Nov 14, 2005
A mini tornado has passed over the eastern Bay of Plenty, uprooting trees in its path.
Between 11am and midday on Monday a hail storm and strong winds swept through Whakatane setting off car alarms, flooding roads and pulling tiles off roofs.
Sergeant Andrew O'Reilly of Whakatane police says there have been tropical-style downpours every two hours. He says no major property damage has been reported, but at least five trees were blown over.
MetService forecaster Allister Gorman says a tornado was not unexpected as there have been storms across the North Island from Masterton to Auckland.
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411749/626904
Officials say Hamilton hit by a tornado
CTV.ca News Staff
It was a very rare occurrence – a tornado in November. Investigators confirm the funnel cloud Hamilton residents saw Wednesday was a twister.
"The track that we seen here and the damage is consistent with an F1 tornado, so we're confirming that … with speeds of 120 to 170 kilometres per hour," said Environment Canada's Ron Bianchi.
Tornado strength is measured on the Fujita scale, from F0 to F5, where F5 is the strongest.
Environment Canada's investigators will give a complete report on the storm Thursday afternoon.
The sudden storm ripped the roof off a school, sending a boys' volleyball team scrambling for cover.
Two students at Lawfield Middle School suffered minor injuries from debris flying around the gym. One student needed treatment for a gash above his right eye and another was struck in the back of his head.
It was a frightening experience for the students who ran from wind and flying debris in their gymnasium.
"I was just sitting there and then I seen the windows start cracking, and then … all the wind came through. And then all the pieces of ceiling came down and we were trying to dodge it and not get hit before we got out of the gym," one student told CTV News.
Lawfield sustained extensive damage when the twister struck, at about 4 p.m. Much of the school's roof was torn off and many of the building's windows were shattered.
While the school appears to have sustained the most damage, strong winds also uprooted trees, mangled cars, blew out windows and damaged homes. Power outages were also reported in the area.
Hamilton radio reporter Jamie West told CTV Newsnet that just before the winds hit, the temperature suddenly got warmer, and the sky became black as night.
"The next thing I knew there was a huge pipe shaped funnel cloud coming across my path, sending debris, 200 or 300 feet in the air," West reported.
Debris settled all over Hamilton neighbourhoods. Some homes were damaged by both high winds and falling objects. Sean Perry told CTV News that he cannot live in his house.
"All the work we've done. New windows, new everything in the house and it's just toast," said Perry.
Meanwhile, Lawfield Elementary remains closed, as is a neighbouring elementary school. An industrial building in nearby Stoney Creek was also severely damaged.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20051110/hamilton_tornado_claims_051110/20051110?hub=CTVNewsAt11
Tornado rips through area
Sunday storms destroy Kentucky, Indiana towns
By Jim Burress
Published: Friday, November 11, 2005
A pile of debris is all that remains of John Rich's Matoon home after an F-2 tornado ripped it apart Sunday morning.
As Rich stood on the home's foundation, the only part of the house left intact, he talked about living through the storm.
He and his girlfriend had just enough time to stand up and get out of bed before the tornado hit.
"When we did, the house buckled and popped (and) it exploded," Rich said. "Stuff was just going by me, and I could feel it just beating me as it went by. In just a few seconds it was done."
Afterward, Rich found himself on the ground, thrown from his second story bedroom. His girlfriend, who had been at his side just seconds before, was on the other side of what used to be their house with a broken leg. His father crawled from beneath the rubble with cuts on his face.
Everything but the house's basement was destroyed. Rich's mattress, which still had sheets on it, was found lodged in a tree about 400 feet away. One of the house's doors remained twisted around a tree limb.
But they survived.
http://www.thenews.org/media/paper651/news/2005/11/11/News/Tornado.Rips.Through.Area-1054046.shtml
Tornado Rips Through Indiana and Kentucky
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: November 6, 2005
Filed at 10:01 a.m. ET
EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) -- Fifteen people are confirmed dead after a tornado hit southwestern Indiana, the state's homeland security spokeswoman said Sunday.
The tornado ripped across southwestern Indiana and northern Kentucky early Sunday, wrecking homes and knocking out power to thousands, authorities said
Cecelia Hanley/Associated Press
A house in Newburgh, Ind., was damaged by the tornado.
Witnesses say the tornado touched down near Henderson, Kentucky, and hopped across the Ohio River into Indiana at around 2 a.m.
Vanderburg County sheriff's dispatcher Diane Duvall said five people were killed at the Eastbrook Mobile Home Park on the southeast side of Evansville.
Henderson County sheriff's dispatcher Michelle King said no deaths were reported in Kentucky.
At the Ellis Park racetrack between Evansville and Henderson, the Henderson County Sheriff's department said about half of the track's grandstands had been destroyed, along with horse barns and housing units.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Midwest-Tornado.html?hp&ex=1131339600&en=6afaf48f609b3677&ei=5094&partner=homepag
Deadly tornado rakes Kentucky and Indiana
At least 15 deaths reported; mobile home park severely damaged
Updated: 10:03 a.m. ET Nov. 6, 2005
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - A tornado ripped across a wide swath of southern Indiana and part of northern Kentucky early Sunday, killing at least 15 people, wrecking homes and knocking out power to thousands, authorities said.
Witnesses said the tornado touched down first near Henderson, Ky., and hopped across the Ohio River into Indiana at around 2 a.m.
The Eastbrook Mobile Home Park on the southeast side of Evansville was heavily damaged. Five people were killed there, said Diane Duvall, a dispatcher at the Vanderburg County Sheriff's office.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9942171/
Another tornado victim dies
By JOHN MARTIN, Courier & Press staff 812-464-7594 or jmartin@evansville.net
November 11, 2005
EVANSVILLE -- Dressed in his black clerical clothing and white Roman collar with a cross around his neck, Bishop Gerald Gettelfinger solemnly walked through the remains of Eastbrook Mobile Home Park, speaking to residents as they combed through the wreckage that used to be their homes.
The death total from Sunday's tornadoes rose by one Thursday to 24.
Advertisement
Thirty-nine remain in the hospital, nine of them in either critical or serious condition.
But after hearing survivors' harrowing stories and seeing the swarm of insulation, splintered wood, siding and shattered glass, Gettelfinger found blessings amid the destruction.
"It's amazing that so few people died," said Gettelfinger, bishop of the Diocese of Evansville. "People survived in rooms that are no longer there."
The deadly tornadoes, said Gettelfinger, were like "egg beaters scrambling eggs." The bishop's description would sound hauntingly accurate to Jennifer Watts.
Watts, her husband, Dustin, and their two children, Alex, 5, and Zach 2, were sound asleep when the tornado roared over the Ohio River from Henderson, where it obliterated much of Ellis Park.
The family heard no warning sirens. It was the pounding thunder and lightning that woke Jennifer Watts up. "I hate storms," she said.
"(Dustin) ran to try to get the kids. I ran to try to get to the bathroom. We didn't make it either way." The tornado picked up the Watts' home off its foundation and flipped it three times. Watts said she became a human pinball, careening off walls.
When the home finally came to rest, Watts said she heard an even more horrifying sound: the screams of Alex and Zach.
Alex, she said, was pinned between their neighbor's home and porch, while Zach was trapped under a bed. But their father tore through the home's mangled remnants and freed the boys, who were not seriously injured.
"My husband was my hero," Watts said. "You'd have thought he was Superman."
The Watts family found some pictures, some treasured mementos and legal papers on Thursday. Jennifer Watts said she's thankful her family is alive and eager to move on.
"We're going to leave this place and never look back. This place was a death trap."
Some families who lost homes in Sunday's storm were allowed their first glimpse at the scene Wednesday, while others returned Thursday. They were given large trash bags to collect items.
On Saturday, residents will be allowed to stay at the site from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., collecting larger items that they wish to take out in a vehicle.
Full-scale debris removal at the site could begin on Monday, said Vanderburgh County Highway Superintendent Mike Duckworth, who will lead that effort.
Danny Phingston picked through the leftovers of his home and recalled the desperate helplessness he felt Sunday morning, when he was working third-shift and television stations announced that Eastbrook had been hit.
Phingston left a houseful of people behind when he went to work: his girlfriend and their 5-year-old daughter, plus two teen-aged children from his first marriage, who were visiting.
Katherine Phingston, 15, who made it to bathtub as the storm hit, suffered a head wound that required 20 staples to mend.
William Phingston, 13, didn't reach the bathtub. It's believed that he flew about 200 feet and landed on his head. He remains in intensive care.
"We don't know (about William's prognosis)," Danny Phingston said. "He has several fractures in his neck ... they're basically giving it a little time. He's not moving anything from the waist down." Lisa Palmer, another tornado victim, said she and 5-year-old son, Gage Norman, weren't at the trailer park when the tornado struck. But their home was destroyed, and they're staying in Newburgh with family.
Palmer said the Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corp. is sending a bus every day to Newburgh to pick up Gage, and other EVSC students staying in Newburgh, and bring them to school.
"They've been so great," Palmer said.
Palmer and others picking through the debris for personal items wore protective face masks. Dewayne Caldwell, environmental officer for the Vanderburgh County Health Department, said the mobile home park is ripe with hazards.
"You can get lacerations from the debris, and there's fiberglass, household hazardous materials, pool chemicals, and cleaners turned over and released," Caldwell said. "The debris is harborage for rodents ... we have such a large scale."
http://www.courierpress.com/ecp/gleaner_news/article/0,1626,ECP_4476_4230046,00.html
Sunday tornado's damage, deaths high
Tornado, Indiana's worst since 1974, rips across state as well as Kentucky, killing at least 22
by Tonya Maxwell and Josh Noel
Chicago Tribune
November 10, 2005
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Hearing the winds whip outside his mobile home and the sound of breaking glass, Dustin Watts ordered his wife to get into the bathtub and then went to get his sons, ages 5 and 2.
Watts, 28, doesn't know what happened next. But he thinks the tornado that killed at least 22 people when it struck northern Kentucky and southern Indiana early Sunday tossed his home into the air.
"I don't know if it flipped over, but it felt like it did," Watts said as he sat on concrete steps that used to lead to his trailer but Sunday afternoon connected to nothing. The frame of his trailer sat about 20 feet away in Eastbrook Mobile Home Park outside Evansville, Ind.
http://www.nineronline.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/11/10/43735c79aa874
Funerals begin for tornado victims
Associated Press
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — The final goodbyes for those killed in the deadliest tornado to hit Indiana in 30 years began today with a slow walk past a tiny white casket that held a 4-year-old boy.
More than 100 people attended the funeral for Isaiah Blaylock, one of the youngest victims of the tornado that killed 22 people in southern Indiana on Sunday.
Related news from the Web
“It’s just hard to believe that life could change so drastically, so quickly,” Jessica Hendricks, Isaiah’s mother, said before the funeral.
Isaiah, his father Brandon Blaylock, 25, and two grandparents were killed when the tornado struck the Eastbrook Mobile Home Park on Evansville’s southeast side 11 minutes after sirens warned the community of danger and two minutes after touching down.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051110/NEWS01/51110029/1006
Posted on: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 12:05 PM HST
"Screaming eagle" brings thunderstorms
The disturbance to the normal tradewinds is nicknamed that by weather forecasters
Helen Altonn
haltonn@starbulletin.com
Blame last night’s heavy rain, thunder and lightning storm on a “screaming eagle.”
That’s what a disturbance in the tradewind flow sometimes is called because of its appearance on satellite imagery, the National Weather Service said.
The low pressure system brought thunderstorms to Oahu, dumping more than four inches of water in some areas, and it was headed toward Kauai today.
The highest rainfall amounts for 24 hours up to 8 a.m. were at Wilson Tunnel, with 4.34 inches, Upper Nuuanu, 4.26 inches and Luluku, 4.16 inches. More than three inches were recorded in parts of Manoa.
Runoff from the heavy rain forced the closure of Kamehameha Highway near Waikane Valley on the windward side of Oahu from about 12:34 a.m. to 2 a.m., according to Honolulu police dispatch.
Kapaa Quarry Road in Kailua was also closed during the same period because of flooding. Police reported no other major problems.
A low level disturbance moving into tradewinds under an upper level low pressure system combined to create unstable conditions with thunderstorms, said forecaster Peter Donaldson.
He said the threat of heavy rain will subside temporarily as the low level disturbance moves to the west.
But tradewinds carrying heavy rain are expected to continue blowing over Hawaii during the week because of a high pressure ridge about 500 miles north of the islands.
The low level system in the trade flow with the “screaming eagle” image was moving west today toward Kauai, with possible flooding forecast.
The upper level low pressure system is more or less stationary but is expected to move slowly to the northwest, Donaldson said.
Unstable atmospheric conditions may continue all week with tradewind showers mostly over windward areas, he said. “But there should be sunshine for the most part over the leeward areas.”
http://starbulletin.com/breaking/breaking.php?id=3860
Rainfall dries up activities around town weather
Darren Meritz
El Paso Times
Showers and thunderstorms inundated the El Paso region Saturday morning, washing away activities for local athletes and activists and causing nearly twice as many traffic accidents as usual.
Because of the thunderstorms, the 11th annual El Paso Pride Day -- a volunteer neighborhood cleanup -- was cut short.
But despite the wet weather, by early afternoon an estimated 5,000 volunteers were hard at work helping to make El Paso a better place to live, said Katherine Palafox, executive director of Keep El Paso Beautiful.
"We were deterred a little bit by Mother Nature, but all in all I found that the community came out and took a lot of pride in El Paso," she said. "El Pasoans are very resilient, and they just pulled up their boot straps and got out in the soggy desert anyway."
http://www.borderlandnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051016/NEWS/510160344/1001
Possible tornado cuts swathe through Ali Curung
The Bureau of Meteorology says severe winds that blew roofs off buildings in Ali Curung yesterday could have been a tornado.
A senior forecaster at the bureau in Darwin, Don McGuffie, says the small community of Ali Curung, 180 kilometres south of Tennant Creek in central Australia, was hit by a severe storm about 11:00am ACST yesterday.
He says it is likely the community experienced wind gusts stronger than 90 kilometres an hour.
"There was a significant damage swathe in a line from the north-west to the south-east, so it was possibly a tornado," he said.
"One local reported that he hadn't seen anything like it in the 30 years that he'd lived there.
"Trees and branches were down everywhere, many fences were blown down, a roof was blown off a house and also off the school, the sign out the front of the police station was obliterated, houses were flooded under the doors and also through some windows."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200510/s1487239.html
The Hurricane Blues
Hurricane season cruising
Key tips and other news to use when planning your cruise vacation
Year-round Caribbean cruising's on an upswing as lines ranging from Princess to Carnival are keeping some of their biggest and splashiest ships sailing in the region throughout summer and fall. And yet, aside from experiencing slightly steamier tropical weather than in winter months, cruising the Caribbean during the summer and fall otherwise comes with one pretty big caveat: Hurricane season can wreak havoc on your vacation.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8974616/
This was the leftovers of Katrina.
Major Storms Blow Through Vermont
POSTED: 6:26 pm EDT August 31, 2005
UPDATED: 6:37 pm EDT August 31, 2005
BURLINGTON, Vt. -- Vermont is feeling and seeing the effects of what is left of Hurricane Katrina.
Major storms with heavy rain, thunder and gusty winds hit the state Wednesday afternoon with the Rutland area seeing some of the biggest thunderstorms.
A wind advisory was canceled late Wednesday afternoon, although a flood watch remained.
The National Weather Service said winds were gusting over 35 mph, but then began falling off and will continue to fall off through the evening.
http://www.thechamplainchannel.com/news/4921817/detail.html
Storm's rain may fall here today
Staff report
As Katrina loses strength, the storm's effects still might be felt in the region today.
The National Weather Service reported significant rainfall and severe thunderstorms are possible through today for much of Pennsylvania, including Franklin and surrounding counties.
The storm was expected to track through western New York late this morning. Warm, unstable air to the east of the storm could create the threat for severe thunderstorms and isolated tornadoes. The forecast calls for 1 to 2 inches of rain in the region.
http://www.publicopiniononline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050831/NEWS01/508310308/1002
end
