Thursday, March 17, 2005

Tornadoes

Well, this weekend the kids and I are going to my parents' place so Karl can build a "tornado box"

I grew up in Kenosha, WI, and while I remember some wild storms, and having sirens, there was never any real worry about having an actual tornado. Heck, when I moved to Dekalb, IL, it seemed it never even rained, lol.

So, we move to Paw Paw, and by some freak thing of nature, I have never seen so many funnel clouds or tornados in my life! Geez, the first spring we were here, I remember the window frames creaking, and I got up and said to my dh: "I think we might be having a tornado". So, I jump onto the computer, and sure enough, there was a warning, specifically for my village of 850 people. So, we pack the kids, and RUN downstairs. I felt so vunerable in the middle of such a large basement. We could hear everything roaring, and even Karl was getting nervous.

At first, I thought this to be a fluke. But, after noticing the sirens never warned us in town, I purchased a NOAA radio. That didn't help me on the interstate however, my girlfriend and I were heading back from Menards, when the radio station told everyone to seek shelter for the tornado. I just decided to speed it up! I never saw anything though, and only minor damage was reported. We ended up with a couple other warnings again that year, and while I could see the wall clouds, nothing touched down.

So, the next year, our neighbors and us went to Milwaukee for a weekend of festivals with the kids, and when we came back, I looked around and wondered why the corn was "flat". Karl and I joked about crop circles, until we came up on the road block to the town. Trees that have stood for over 100 years were down, utility poles were down, and homes were damaged. So many trees were down, I thought our home was gone! The power was out for days for some people, and I think it took a month for the street to look "clean" again.

Anyways, this last year was the final straw. We could all stand outside watching one less than two miles from the house. Now, it was a puny thing, and it damaged a barn, but still, how many tornadoes ARE there in Northern Illinois? I guess alot. I went to a few internet sites, and there is this weird band, where this county alone can average five tornadoes a year.

Looking even further into this, there were two F5 tornadoes in Paw Paw. One in 1860, and one in 1890. Those made "national" news. There were a few F3's in the 1970's and 1980's, and then they get smaller from there. The tornado of Utica was only 20 miles from here, and I didn't even think it was supposed to rain that day!

So, needless to say, we are building a "box" for us. Our limestone foundation sits about three feet above ground, and if a tornado really wanted to wipe the house to ground level, we'd be in bog trouble. We also have several windows, which are a concern, and no real shelter from any of it.

Karl is going to use 4x4 construction, and drop the height below ground. We're also going to use surface bolts versus door knobs, and we're going to bolt the box to the side of the foundation (tricky), and to the floor. I also have supplies incase we get stuck in there for a day if we're under debris. I think as an insane measure, if we get a warning, I'll run outside and turn off the gas, because that would SUCK if we were stranded down there, and there was a gas leak. ALL of our appliances are gas, and we even have gas lines that go to nowhere!

So, Karl will have his work cut out for him, because the season starts in four weeks!

2 Comments:

  • At 8:03 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    there is an emergency gas shut off valve you can easily install. it is a 24vac valve normally closed. no power=no gas. I install these in all commercial buildings. they cost about 80 bux. then you can put emergecy shutoffs in the kitchen, laundry and you can even hook one to a fire alarm by your furnace. I havent seen it done but there is probably a co sensor for them too. insurance realy likes these systems. you just run a doorbell wire in series through all your swithces and sensors, if any part of the circuit is broken=no gas.

     
  • At 8:58 AM, Blogger K said…

    It's weird how storms always seem to follow the same patterns. I'm in west Alabama, and all our bad storm systems start in Mississippi and head northeast. My grandmother's town and the others around it were forever getting tornado warnings. We had a bad storm last week. My hubby was stuck on the Interstate going 10 mph through the rain and hail trying to make it home. My cats and I were home and terrified ... we hid in the closet under the stairs!

     

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