Tornadoes, storms and hail... are you OK?

Tornadoes, storms and hail play havoc around Mid-South http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/local/article/0,2845,MCA_25340_4590964,00.html

We didn't have any damage. How about the other people living in the area where the tornadoes touched down or storms passed through??

Judy

I'm ok over here. The tornadoes and hail skirted us and hit nearby towns, causing a lot of destruction.

I heard from two of my sisters in different parts of TN. One is near Dyer County TN which was devastated yesterday. Both sisters are fine. They got a bit of hail but nothing as bad as Dyer got.

It was very scary in these parts yesterday. Today it's a bright, sunny, beautiful day.

WE didn't get a thing here. Searcy got beat up some though, which is l2 miles from us.

we were lucky this time, first storm of the season and it ripped through several states making it's distruction along the way.

kathy

The worst of the damage was west and north of us. We had some reports of possible rotation a few miles south of here, and the tornado sirens went off over on MTSU's campus between midnight and 1 a.m. (DS called to see if we were okay, and let us know he was safe.)

Lots of thunder, lightning, rain, and some strong winds - but everything (and everyone) is just fine!

We were camping at Fall Creek Falls when this storm passed through. I have never in my life had such an experience, and hope never to again. There's something about being in a tent with no way to find out what's coming next that just makes it seem so much worse! (My husband is still laughing at me for being so scared! I think it was completely reasonable to be scared.) No tornadoes or any such where we were, but it was certainly a severe thunderstorm! All was well here at home when we got back, too.
Glad everyone is safe!

Glad to hear that so far everyone is reporting in safe.
The Ohio River Valley Forum is reporting everyone OK also.

Ric

We are in East Kentucky. We had lots of thunder,lightning, rain and wind but no tornados or flooding. We are pretty safe from tornados because the mountains shear them off. My cousin in North AL said they were up all night. But they were okay, thank the Lord. I heard there were quite a few tornados in central and western Ky. I think that is pretty common for them this time of year. I'm not sure though. I have only lived here 2 1/2 years. I am much more familiar with hurricanes.

Hey, CajuninKy - I've visited Inez, KY - and Beauty and Lovely, too. Pretty country!

Terry,
What on earth brought you to our little piece of Heaven? It's off the beaten path for tourists. Do you have family here? It is very pretty. Right now all the flowers are starting to bloom. I really need to get out and take some photos. I have my batteries charging so I'll be out and about soon. Here is one I took a week or so ago. This is my grandson.

It was work-related. (I used to work for MAPCO, wayyyy back when they owned MAPCO Coal.)

I spent several days in your neck of the woods - it was probably 1993 or 1994 (before DD was born), but unfortunately most of that trip was spent in the mines, meeting with employees. What little I saw of the countryside during daylight hours was very beautiful. (And I gained an abiding respect for what the miners do to make those mines produce - whew!)

For a few years in there, I spent a lot of time working with the coal group; but outside of that trip, the majority of my time was spent in western KY (Henderson, I think?) where we had a larger regional office.

You were here before me. I have only lived here 2 1/2 years. We pastor a church in Inez. You are right about the miners. It is dangerous work. They are not appreciated enough by the entire country and they are certainly not paid enough for what they do. Coal prices continue to go up but the little guys don't see much if any of it. The rich get richer...
A man has found a way to get liquid fuel from the coal. He has gotten a very large grant from the government to see if he can figure out how to do it on a large scale. If he does, these mines will kick into overdrive. It is not safe to drive on thses roads as it is with these overloaded coal trucks. But they are starting a law that will put the responsibility on the loader and the company for overloaded trucks in the future rather than on the truck driver like it is now. It should have been done a long time ago.

The Huntsville/Madison County, AL area had a lot of hail, but fortunately not much wind damage. The weather service said we had 4 F-0 tornadoes. (I didn't know there was an F-0 category). One of those warnings was headed our way in NE Morgan County so we went to our shelter for a while at around 11 pm, but mostly watched all the hail coming down. We initially had some pieces that were quarter sized but it quickly tapered to dime-nickle size and lasted about 10 minutes. That was unfortunate because it pretty well knocked a lot of new growth off many trees and plants. The water lillies in the pond took a real beating as did the hosta and dogwood blooms. The strangest thing was the heavy smell of pine. We thought maybe a tree had come down in the woods. But Saturday morning we found green pine needles everywhere. There are a lot of cars in Huntsville with hail damage. But we count ourselves as fortunate and thankful we didn't have severe damage. Thanks to everyone for your concern. I wish our good neighbors up in TN all the best as they recover.

OutsidePlaying, we experienced the same "pine aroma" phenomenon, and LOTS of pine needles were shed. (We've got a few pine trees, but I wouldn't have thought they'd emit that much scent or needles.)

Our hail was more golf-ball sized and it came at us like it was being thrown by a fast-ball pitching machine. It knocked out two windows (a storm window and punched through the dome on a skylight.) The new roof (three years old - courtesy of a tornado/hail storm) is pretty beat up, so I'm guessing we'll be going through another insurance claim process. (Ugh. But it could have been soooo much worse.)

The hail shredded the bigger leaves on my heucheras and hostas...oh well, it's early spring, so they'll recover quickly (I hope!) It also brought down a lot of leaves from our Magnolia, and (maybe a good thing) a LOT of the "helicopters" from the maples (any chance they were brought down before they're viable???? Fewer seedlings to weed out would be a positive benefit to the ravages of this storm!

Terry, I know what you mean about the maple helicopters & seedlings. I'm hoping for the same thing with those sweet gum thingies (the clusters). That would be a positive thing from the storm if we don't have as many sg seedlings and balls in the next year! Sorry about your roof. We are wondering about that as well and will get someone to take a look at it.

Outsideplaying - I have a brother just north of you and he, too, got hail, and a report of a tornado going over his house. He hasn't found any damage, but will have the roof checked out, as he had 1" sized hail.

I didn't know there was a DGer in Lacey's Spring! I go through there whenever I go visit DB. It is a pretty little town.
ginni

Thanks, tgif. We love our little piece of paradise in the country. Built our house 6 years ago and moved out of Huntsville where our kids grew up. Like my name says, we spend a lot of our free time 'playing' on the property. Always something to do or something to improve in the garden, which has been a continual work in progress. Stop by and see our gardens sometime in the summer.
Elaine

Elaine - I know what you mean about "always something to do". We have 70 acres here, and another 10 acres about 12 miles north of this place. There is no way, or even desire to keep it all neat, but it would be nice if I could at least keep the driveway clear! You would think, with that many acres, I could plant anything I want, but since 90% of it is wild woods, I have to fight to get as much as I do planted and then protected for the native vines and undergrowth!

I'l let you know if we ever have a chance to stop by. Most of our trips to H'ville are one day type which doesn't leave a lot of extra time.

I hope your weather is as pretty as mine is today!
ginni

Ginni, That's a lot of property. We only have 9 acres, about half wooded due to a lot of pines we had to have cleared due to old growth and threat of pine bark beetles before we built the house. I can relate to keeping all the viney stuff out. Honeysuckle, poison ivy, and all that thorny stuff just keep coming up.

Weather is spectacular this week. I'm taking off tomorrow to, um, play.
Elaine

Ah, yes, the thorny things - now I have *names* for that which have nothing to do with gender, and those words are NOT allowed on DG!!! If you haven't as yet encountered the base root ball for this *thing*, you are in for a treat! I dug all of these out of a six foot square section of my new butterfly garden, and sadly, I *know*, I didn't get it all. They can easily be over a foot deep in the ground with runners all over the place. The rest of it is just everyday life. Fortunately, neither of us is highly allergic to poison ivy, because it is everywhere, along with the green thorn, jackson vine (aka rattan), and wisteria.

But I wouldn't live anywhere else!
ginni

Ginni,
There is a product from Ortho called Brush-B-Gone that works great on poison ivy. It had taken over our yard down the bayou and that took care of it for us.

I actually planted Wisteria, didn't know any better at the time. Now it is growing up the side of the house, under the porch and trying to get in the windows at night. lol lol

Anyone want some????

Judy

Ahhhh, Judy. I feel your pain! A 'friend' gave me a start of the native Wisteria. That was several years ago. It has attempted to take over in three differant locations. I am working on removing it from what used to be the chicken yard fence. It sends out runners several feet long, and roots all along the runners! The blooms are pretty, and fragrant, but not worth the hassle...they are much smaller than the Japanese and Chinese Wisterias.

Judy,
Have you seen the wisteria that grows in tree form? I don't know what kind it is but it has the same kind of flowers as the vine. I just hate the bumble bees it attracts.

That's just a regular Wisteria trained to a Standard Form.
We made one years ago.
Like doing a Standard Rose it's just a matter of pruning and pruning and......lol


Ric

That is the way I have trained mine to grow. It is easier to keep the runners under control that way. Mine is about 20 years old.

That is interesting. I thought it was a whole different variety.

A lot of people prefer the Standard Form.
As elena stated they are a WHOLE lot easier to control.
Our neighbor's is in the middle of the lawn.
Just be careful to prune hard back immediately after flowering only.
Otherwise you risk loosing next year's flowers.

Ric

Here is an interesting link on an Africian Wisteria Tree.

http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/65328/index.html

I saw two wisteria trees today so I'll have to go back and take pictures, you will not believe them. Unlike the above they have a single trunk.

This message was edited Apr 12, 2006 8:04 PM

That is what I saw down the bayou in La. It looks just like an ubrella. I thought it just grew that way.

I'm thinking maybe there are "wisteria trees" and then there are "Wisteria Trees"

Life has been raining on my head but as soon as I get a break I'll investigate.

Judy