Here comes the "nadoes...

shawnee · #1 08/19/05, 04:21 PM

Storm time here...central Ks. getting tornado warning; got one on the ground and heading northeast towards lonely me. 65mph wind gusts Great Bend and whistle sounding...nothing but constant rumbles here, no wind at all and German Shepherd howling. Think I'll make a p'butter sandwich, grab a coke and mosey downstairs.

AngieM2 · #2 08/19/05, 04:25 PM

Be safe -
we don't want you noticing "I'm not in Kansas anymore."

Angie

shawnee · #3 08/19/05, 04:27 PM

Yeah, it's gonna hit northside of town. My mother and brothers live north of town. I called a bit ago and they moved her from her bed to wheelchair in bathroom and getting a mattress to surround her with. Darn I wish I knew this was coming up - I could have zipped over in 25 minutes.

shawnee · #4 08/19/05, 04:37 PM

I'm supposed to get it 5:l4. Golfball sized hail and tornadoes - 2 of 'em. Think I'll move my van to front yard away from trees. I usually do well insurance wise ($) when my vehicles get clobbered with hail..!

shawnee · #5 08/19/05, 05:24 PM

Hit Great Bend, Ks. Injuries and no power to the town.

Mastiff · #6 08/19/05, 05:33 PM

Now those things scare the heck out of me...
good luck

bugstabber · #7 08/19/05, 05:45 PM

How's your mom and brothers?

shawnee · #8 08/19/05, 05:57 PM

Husband roared in here a while back; he was north of G.Bend and saw a tornado coming towards him. He circled back north east and joined me in the basement. That was a first! Power is off, roofs are off in businesses and windows broken. Talking about a curfew. Trees down in backyard of family's house; they're going to load Mom up and brother-in-law and his daughter are coming, too. Hard on her; ;she is bedfast and has Alzheimer's. No power - now fun. I've never seen so much circulation right over our house in my life. I hate those things, too. Especially when you live out in the boonies. Looks like it is going to "train" for a while, here. More storms coming up but nothing like we just had. Small town 3 mi. east of our home had a touchdown on farm just 1/2 mile south of the town. Too close for me. At least it's cool out now. Lots of non-stop rumbling out there. Makes me nervous. Hate storms when I'm alone; I'm a lot braver when daughter is here. She's gone til Sunday nite to a graduation in Columbia, Mo. Wind coming up again. Gonna check radar. Thanks for concern,all!

CountryGoalie · #9 08/19/05, 07:52 PM

Any updates?

Cat · #10 08/19/05, 08:20 PM

Sorry to hear about your weather and hope y'all come through okay. I could see the thunderboomers from out our way [west of GC] and it was one huge storm!

Any damage at the convent that you are aware of? My aunt is a Dominican although I don't know if she is in GB at the moment. She travels quite frequently and has been recently.

My prayers are will everyone in that area.

shawnee · #11 08/19/05, 09:06 PM

In front of the convent they have those pine trees; many uprooted. Seems like the pines uproot instead of cracking off like the others. Pretty messed up there. Main thoroughfare, 19th street south end of town where WalMart, fast food, ect. is, floods like crazy. Whole area is dark. South, center and east part of town had most damage - lines are everywhere. Storms are tapering off to the east now; were training til just now. It has absolutely poured here; standing water evereywhere and hailed twice; once with stones little larger than golfballs. I ran out between storms and checked rain gauge at 8pm; 4 1/2 inches. Claflin is a mess, said hubby; lots of water. He just got into town after finishing his propane deliveries and stopped by my families place. Mom too messed up to move; windows open to cool her off and they gave her another pill to sleep. Too much lightning around; it messes her up and she very, very rarely goes riding anymore. They're going to empty the freezer and frig and bring it here. Brother-in-law and his daughter are staying in a friends travel trailer 2 houses down from their house. Neat! The guy loaned them a generator and everything. Now if the wind just doesn't pick up tonight THEY'LL be OK, too! Just pays to be prepared. Lucky we have shake flashlights; I gave each member of my family one for birthdays and Christmas.

Shepherd · #12 08/19/05, 09:48 PM

((((Shawnee)))) I know what you mean; it's frightening to be home alone out in the country when the storms are that severe. I'm so glad you're ok right now.

They're heading up my way tonight now. Altho it looks like you might have more storms trailing behind still, according to radar. For now they don't look intense around here... hoping it stays that way too. We could sure use the rain but... we'll pass on the tornadoes! LOL. We'll gladly accept the cool down tho.

Bet your DH was dealing with some fast heartbeats when he got home after seeing the tornado LIVE. That will do that every time!

You stay safe thru the night... that system looks like it's one of those "just keeps coming and coming" ones.

Cat · #13 08/19/05, 10:12 PM

Thanks for the info. Shawnee. Glad to see that everything is 'okay'. Of course, even though devastating, damaged buildings can be rebuilt, lives are what counts and it doesn't appear that anyone has lost their life, as far as I've heard so far. I was really shocked when I heard about the storms late this afternoon. Rarely do they get that bad in this area this late in the year, in my experience. Hope your luck continues to hold with this next batch that's heading your way.

wildwestwoman · #14 08/20/05, 12:45 AM

I'm so glad that you're OK.... Prayers coming your way...

Suzi

Shepherd · #15 08/21/05, 11:17 AM

Glad you faired as well as you did Shawnee! Hope everyone's pulling together to help each other out there.

Windy in Kansas · #16 08/21/05, 12:06 PM

The National Weather Service out of Wichita investigated the Great Bend area storms on Saturday. They declared two F-0 tornadoes touched down as well as one F-1. Most or all touched down outside of the city proper--THANKFULLY!

A couple in Rice County as well.

Hutchinson only got lightning, thunder and 1½" of nice rainfall.

Catherine my brother lives at Lakin which you know since you are in that area.
Holcomb, Lakin, Deerfield? PM me if you care to divulge your locale.

Fischer · #17 08/21/05, 04:43 PM

My DIL took some great pictures at their house. They can be seen in the Great Bend Tribune and on their website. They are the ones of the tornado itself, taken from their yard.

Cat · #18 08/25/05, 10:11 PM

My aunt Emailed us yesterday and thankfully she was still in California when the storm hit. The convent did sustain damage, though. If anyone is interested they have photos posted on their website as well.

http://www.ksdom.org

Shepherd · #19 08/26/05, 11:45 AM

Fischer do you have the direct link to the photos you're talking about?

Fischer · #20 08/26/05, 12:40 PM

The website is www.greatbendtribune.com. Don't know if the pics are still there.