Storms in Virginia, ATL

[Divemistress of the Dark]

Hey folks, just posting here on the off chance someone checks in...

We've had a major tornado outbreak in the southern U.S. today. It's mostly over in my area but getting ready to hit central Virginia and Atlanta. Some of the cells hitting those areas previously caused ginormous tornadoes in Alabama with multiple fatalities. (Hoping whatever Copeland clan remains there is all right.)

Best news source should be www.weather.gov, you can type in your city and state to get an updated weather map.

Stay safe, folks. Grab your cell phone & shoes before you head into your safe room, and post here (FB, Twitter, etc) to let us know you're OK later, all right?

[conroy]

Witnessed a funnel cloud from my deck earlier this evening. Looks like ill be sleeping in the basement tonight.

[alex]

Be safe

[luna_virgo]

We got hit hard in Alabama. I am ok but still pretty stressed from the whole thing. I spent most of the evening in my friend’s basement.

President Obama has signed an emergency declaration for Alabama. 53 people are dead and over 400,000 without power statewide. F5 tornadoes hit the city of Tuscaloosa (near the University of Alabama) and very close to downtown Birmingham.

The Birmingham tornado: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-weTx--ocDY
I’ve lived in the Birmingham area all my life and have never seen anything like this hit the city.

Photo of damage in North Birmingham: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cbsfortytwo/5663011404/

If you’re still in the path of this weather, please take it seriously!

Edit: fixed the Youtube link, the first video was removed

[ltwoman]

Glad you posted this thread, DD! I'm just getting up and watching the TV now. We are forecast to get smacked later today; I have taken the day off to tour Colonial Williamsburg with rellies from NC. Oh well.
Keep the thread going, Nutters, and stay safe!
(Should I get out my foil cap and lead lined underwear? What's that nuclear plant across the river doing today?)

[Throb]

Been thinking of Dive and all the other Nutters in the area all day since I heard the news this morning.
Hope you are all safe and please check back here when you can.

[smax]

woah.

wishing safety to all.

[luddite lady]

Thanks for checking in, all. You've been on my mind throughout the day. I'm glad you're safe, and I hope and pray you all stay that way.

[luna_virgo]

I just found out that photo link I posted that I thought was from North Birmingham was actually from a little further north of the city, where my parents and my sister's family live. Fortunately they're all safe.

It's been a very emotional day here. No one I know was harmed, but almost everyone seems to know someone who lost a home or business. The death toll is over 200 in Alabama now, and still rising as people are being found.

If you feel inclined, you can donate to the United Way of Central Alabama's Tornado Disaster Fund: http://www.uwca.org/

or text "REDCROSS" to 90999 to give $10.

How is everyone else doing?

[ltwoman]

Not so much as a drop of rain on mia casa, despite tornado warnings to the south and a severe thunderstorm warning right here! Perhaps Mother Nature has decided we've had enough! God bless and prayers for all those not so fortunate.

[moonstone]

Yikes!

Incredible photos luna-virgo

I've been off-line for a couple of days and no TV here so had no idea this had happened.

Hope you're all safe and very glad to hear it missed you Laura.

[63falcon]

The same part of the Blue Ridge that has kept my folks' part of Amherst Co. "droughty" this spring also deflected these tornado breeding systems to the west, north and south of them!! We drive right through Volens VA on our way to kin in Durham, terrible.
One of the local weekend a.m. radio personalities here worked in parts of Tennessee and ALabama that were hit hard and has been unable to reach any of his old friends there. It is so awful, the totally of those winds when they hit! Here in Ohio, most folks have basements of some sort, but I had heard that this wasn't as common in parts of Alabama that were hit, unimaginable to go through that in a closet above ground, or some other such room.
Both nights that these storms went thru, we got just a brush-by here in Cincinnati-but my 6 toed cat went CRAZY ina way he never does about 1/2 hour before i heard the report of this on the radio-Mr. Mittens woke me up by 'popping' me on my face and then kept running up/down the stairs and tried to climb the walls.........amazing.....

[luna_virgo]

Here in Ohio, most folks have basements of some sort, but I had heard that this wasn't as common in parts of Alabama that were hit, unimaginable to go through that in a closet above ground, or some other such room.

In central Alabama, where the worst storms were, the bedrock is mostly unstable limestone, which if drilled too deeply can cause sinkholes. The cost of making a basement safe here can be prohibitively expensive.

But the main problem this time around was the sheer size of the storms. When your house is in the path of an F5 tornado, there's not much you can do except pray.

[63falcon]

Yeah, this is the situation my best friend and her husband are in in San Antonio. The bedrock is 12" below surface soil, and she was saying that the homes in their neighbohood have one reinforced closet (a large on) that was built for this sort of thing. We talked about this when they had first moved down there, and she said that she just couldn't imagine what it would be like to be in there, above ground, in that sort of weather! I heard a description of what going thru Hurricane David was like back in the mid-90's from a girl who's house was blown in half-luckily their half they were in stayed put, and that still wouldn't compare to what went on last week! One of my Library Patrons had kin in LA that sustained lot's of property damage, but fortunately no loss of life. Some truck drivers up here were talikung about bringing down water, etc,...but Red Cross folks said that it was better to let official channels do that sort of distribution-I just hope neccesities are through to y'all efficiently.
Let us know how things are going. Take care! Lot's of folks are praying for y'all, donating, sending positive thoughts on.

[Divemistress of the Dark]

And! The good news keeps on coming....LOTS of towns around here (including Memphis) are experiencing record flooding. (Nashville's spared this time, but we're still getting more or less daily tornado warnings...think I'm going to be getting one of those strong rooms.) I've got stuff to do the next couple weekends and can't go sandbag, but I've been trying to give money to various charities when I can.

If you're on FB, there's a site called "Toomers for Tuscaloosa" that's recording the daily needs for Alabama. Right now it's things like diapers and can openers. Drop me an email if you need more info.