Monday - April 03, 2006

Killer Storm

It was all over in about thirty minutes. I left the apartment around 4:30pm yesterday to go pick up lease papers at the complex office and grab some takeout at KFC for supper. All day long we had bright sunny skies and temps in the mid-70’s. When I left the complex office, I noticed the sky had turned black as night with an ugly, boiling purple mass spreading outward over my head. I started humming the theme music from “Ghostbusters”.

As I headed to the local KFC about a mile away, it started to rain. Just about the time I pulled up to the order window all hell broke loose. Wind started rocking my 3-ton Grand Cherokee, debris came flying overhead from someone’s roof and marble-sized hail started pounding down on me. The Jeep shook and bounced as more signs and tree limbs went flying overhead. Like an idiot, I just sat there and kept screaming at the little speaker to order my chicken. By the time I pulled out of the parking lot with my supper, the scene from “Ghostbusters” was over and Gozar The Destroyer had moved on into Illinois. Are we having fun yet ... ?

Two Killed As Storm Batters St. Louis
_{April 2, 2006}

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

A fast-moving storm packing powerful winds tore through the St. Louis area Sunday afternoon, killed at least two people, damaged buildings and cut electricity for up to 270,000 customers across Missouri and Illinois. One man was killed by a falling tree while walking on a trail in Castlewood State Park near Ballwin, said Tracy Panus, a spokeswoman for St. Louis County police. She would not identify the victim Sunday night.

Another person was killed when part of the roof of a K&G Clothing Store in Fairview Heights collapsed. Elsewhere in Missouri, the violent weather “destroyed just about everything” in Caruthersville, the Pemiscot County seat, dispatcher Dorothy Hale said. Dark thunderclouds rolled in from the west shortly after 5 p.m., uprooting trees and snapping power lines in St. Louis County and the Metro East, where some of the worst damage was reported.

Emergency officials say the same storm system also killed 14 people in west Tennessee, the Associated Press reported. The storm’s fury spared few parts of the bistate area. It carried winds gusting up to 70 mph in St. Charles County and formed what may have been tornadoes in Randolph County, Ill., according to the National Weather Service. Tornadoes may have touched down near Junction City, Ill., and in Randolph County in Illinois, meteorologists said. The weather service said softball-size hail also was reported in some areas.

Forecasters called for breezy weather today, including wind gusts up to 35 mph and temperatures in the mid-50s. But more showers and thunderstorms - perhaps severe - return to the forecast for Wednesday night. Sunday’s storm dropped little rain - only a half-inch at Lambert Field - but brought powerful winds that knocked down trees and damaged houses and businesses. Power was out to as many 158,000 homes in the St. Louis area. Crews were working to restore electricity late Sunday night, and additional crews were called from Kansas City to help with the work.

- More on the storm in St. Louis ...

- Indianapolis got hit pretty hard too ...

- Twenty-three dead in Tenessee, Arkansas ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 04/03/2006 at 09:38 AM   
Filed Under: • Climate-Weather •  
• Comments (16) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

DISCLAIMER

THE SERVICES AND MATERIALS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE HOSTS OF THIS SITE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE OR ANY MATERIALS.

Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

1. Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
2. Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
3. Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
4. Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere

It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

THE INFORMATION AND OTHER CONTENTS OF THIS WEBSITE ARE DESIGNED TO COMPLY WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS WEBSITE SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ALL PARTIES IRREVOCABLY SUBMIT TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE AMERICAN COURTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPLICABLE IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY, THEN THIS WEBSITE IS NOT INTENDED TO BE ACCESSED BY PERSONS FROM THAT COUNTRY AND ANY PERSONS WHO ARE SUBJECT TO SUCH LAWS SHALL NOT BE ENTITLED TO USE OUR SERVICES UNLESS THEY CAN SATISFY US THAT SUCH USE WOULD BE LAWFUL.

Copyright © 2004-2015 Domain Owner