So. I'll tell my story, then post some links. There is a severe t-storm watch right now, so if I get freaky, try not to mind me too much, I'm still pretty shaken O.O
At 10:30 pm, I was squeezing some maple story in before bed when I heard the Ft.Riley air raid siren go off. (for those of you who don't know, in the midwest these sirens are often used to warn of severe weather. When we had soft ball sized hail in areas near me 2 weeks prior to the tornado, the sirens went off then as well)
Since I was already at the computer, I decided to go ahead and check the weather channel.com to see what was up. It (siren) had been used liberally so far during storm season (for good reason mind you, but it hadn't affected me yet) so I almost didn't look, but thank God I did!! gonk
I pulled up Manhattan KS and all it said was: "A tornado has been sited in your area, seek shelter IMMEDIATELY!"
I grabbed my female rabbit Napolean out of the big cage (too big to carry down 2 flights stairs, as my puters on the second floor) and threw her into the tiny carrier thingie I have, put that on top of my male rabbit (Hobo) in the small cage, picked them both up together and hauled a** down 2 flights of stairs to the basement, calling the dog and cats with me.
The dog, my good boy, of course came, and I shut him down there with the bunnies, but my dumbass cats ran/hid from me, so even though it took like 1 min - 30seconds to get down there initially, it was more like 3 minutes total having to wrangle 2 cats also sweatdrop rolleyes . (Pray for me the little idiots learned their lesson!)
So, I had my cell phone on me, but that was just lucky. I hadn't put on PJs yet, and I think it was randomly still in my pocket! gonk (I have that in my head as something to grab now, and with hubby to wrangle cats, it should be much easier!)
I was really freaking out, so already I was panicked, and admittedly not thinking very clearly. I wanted to call someone, but kept thinking "it's 10:30pm, I don't want to wake them!" confused It finally dawned on me, if there's a tornado coming, maybe I should wake them!
So I called my neighbor Darlene. She was watching them track the tornado in the news. It started in a town called Chapman, and completely thrashed them. (They had 80% damage, 30% total loss, and one dead). Then it went north of a town called Junction City, passed around Ft. Riley somehow (the path makes no sense to me, so lets say "magic" ), passed Ogden, cut across the Manhattan airport's airfield, and came directly past my house to get into Manhattan!!! gonk
Let me back track now a little. Darlene told me it was expected at 10:56pm and to watch for a lot of thunderless ground lightening, because that meant it was coming. (not completely thunderless mind you, just more bolts then noise) She kept having to switch lines or call me back, seeing as all her friends and family are KS natives and were calling her non-stop to help her track the tornado.
She had left her TV on very loud so she could her it in the basement, but the power browned and it shut off and didn't come back on, so we were both totally reliant on her brother's info from his home (somewhere safely out of it's path) about the tornado.
I have a bathroom in the basement, and it's the only small, safe, truly windowless place, so I had both bunnies, both cats and the dog in there with me. (Since I had 15 minutes notice, I went back up stairs and got a bigger crate for Napoleon, and some PJs for me since I knew I wasn't leaving the basement again that night) I went out to try and see out the basement window for ground lightening, but realized it was a fruitless pursuit. I hadn't heard back from Darlene, but it hit like 10:55, so I went into the bathroom and crawled into the standing shower with my dog.
It hit pretty much right on time. There were 4 sirens that night, one for Chapman, One for JC/Ft.Riley, one for Ogden, and one for Manhattan. As the fourth siren was playing, it got drowned out by the sound of the tornado. I have no accurate description for this noise, but if you've ever heard it, you'll not soon forget it gonk . Some people say it sounds like a herd of frieght trains, but it still sounds like wind to me. Just wind so loud, it literally rattles your very bones! confused
As soon as I heard it I started freaking out really bad. I mean, hysterical tears and everything. (I'd heard one before, being in that little one in Germany, so I knew what it was...) I remember not seeing the cats (I think they hid under the toilet), I remember the dog whining hysterically and crawling all over me, and I even remember yelling "NO!" at the tornado (it didn't listen, just for the record O.o), but it's also kind of a blur. They go by very, very fast, but the fear makes it feel so much longer.
I sat there for God knows how long and bawled clutching my dog. After it'd passed, my cats came out from wherever they were and crawled all over me, just purring and purring. Looking back, the true 'all clear' animal sign though, was the rabbits acting normal again. Which didn't happen for a good hour or so afterwards. (they are my best storm alarms, but you have to really be paying attention, because what they do is curl up into a ball and close their eyes xp )
At some point, rather immediately after, Darlene called me. She wasn't much better off then me as far as hysterical panicking, still somewhat crying. She said "was that it, or was that just some hail?" I said "that was definitely IT" She informed me another tornado had been sighted in Abilene, and they thought it was headed this way, so stay in the basement.
I sat there (the power went out at the same time I first heard it coming) in the dark, in the basement bathroom, and just needed to contact people to feel less frightened, so I started texting totally random people I'd been in a tornado. I'm pretty sure I was even texting house phones and such O.O . (Kairi was in there, pretty sure xD) I texted my baby bro and my baby sister in there, both staying with my mom for the summer.
One of them must have told her, because she called me and says "Are you OK?????" then immediately "why didn't you text me?????" xp She then spent the next hour and a half on the phone with me trying to convince me there was no second tornado coming to steal my soul and ravage my body. (not kidding, I wouldn't even leave the bathroom for that long!)
It was around 1:30 when I came out of the bathroom, and let the animals out. I sort of layed on the bed down there for awhile in shock (I have a feather mattress, and foam pad laid out down there, for nights it's wise to spend in the basement, 2 of which happened before the actual tornado) It was around 2am the cops got to my door. They were going door to door in areas that'd been hit making sure everyone was alright and no one needed assistance or anything. There had already been looting in the neighborhood behind me (which was flattened gonk ), so they wanted to make sure everyone locked up and blocked broken windows and such.
I was really shocked to see how much debree was everywhere, even in the dark. The only damage I could see that night, was the cover over one of the basement windows was totally shredded by wooden boards. (from a newly remodeled home just down the street whose entire roof had blown off sweatdrop ). I dug up some flashlights and candles, and got some water, but ultimately, just went back to the basement and stayed there. (each upstairs trip was really quick and short)
Around 3 I layed back in the bed. I'm not sure if I really slept (didn't feel like it) or if I just lay there in a blank state, but next thing I knew it was 6:30 am.
I got up, fed the animals, got dressed for work (yes, I really thought I was going to work still at that point). By 7am, I went outside, to take pictures for my husband to see the damage (since the lucky b*****d was in California for all this rolleyes , That's TWO tornadoes he's missed! mad ). There was bits of drywall, insulation and roof tiles everywhere. Not to mention everything seemed to be mixed with broken glass. By 8am, I had a good catalog of pictures, and realized how much there was to do. So I called my boss at home and asked off to clean, he not only said okay, but offered the company truck for me to use if I needed! gonk
I spent the whole day from 8am until 6pm picking up debree and hauling it to the dumpster. I cleaned my whole parking area mostly alone (this sweet little old lady with a cane randomly helped me by using her butler to collect some of what i was sweeping 4laugh heart ), and of course cleaned my back yard and front stoop.
I have never seen that much broken glass in my life, TOTAL! burning_eyes It was everywhere, all kinds. Window glass, windshield glass, fancy decorative glass (like a chandelier would have)
I found a sock, some pills, parts of kids toys, paintings minus the frame or glass, a gutter (seriously, a whole gutter, all twisted and crumpled on the sidewalk O.O), but most disturbing of all were the pictures . I found a first birthday, a christening, a wedding, a very old picture (like great-grandfather old), and a fashion show. The oddest thing was, one of my nieghbors totally knew the people in the pictures! So I gave them to him and he's returning them where they belong.
I had to stop and bawl for awhile after finding the first birthday
The houses down the hill from me are destroyed, the houses behind the hill completely flattened, the business down the hill into town just trashed.
Little Apple Toyota was hit pretty hard. (last I heard, they were still missing 2 cars O.o;;, probably in the lake if you ask me. they found one in a random place on the KSU campus O.O) Cars were pancaked onto one another, the showroom windows got blown out, and a car was dropped thru the roof into the middle of the showroom. The storage units behind it were flattened. The brand new, just built, not even open yet Tru Value (hardware store) next to it was completely destroyed. Nothing left, totally flattened.
A couple of buildings (the wind tunnel/wind testing facility was one of them O.o) on Kansas State University (KSU) were really damaged, a sorority lost it's roof (not fraternity if you watch the vid), and Tuttle Creek Lake was trashed. That about sums up damage in my town.
For those of you who know these things, it was F4 when it passed by me, literally feet away O.O.
News release
This has several different news reports, and some youtube video links.
If you watch the 1st youtube video (tis 8 minutes long) The very first thing they show is the car dealership and the TruValue, literally just down the street from me!!! about 3:30 in they show some random drywall/insulation in crazy places, it was like that where I lived, then they show the flattened homes that are just behind where I live O.O. At the very end, like 7:30 in, the 'Honk if you've seen Toto' sign is just down from my house. You basically turn right there and go up the hill to where I live...
Anyways, like I said, I was incredibly lucky. Both to have almost 20 minutes warning, and to get away with only a few broken windows O.O;;
I pray to never be in one again! *knocks on wood* heart
At 10:30 pm, I was squeezing some maple story in before bed when I heard the Ft.Riley air raid siren go off. (for those of you who don't know, in the midwest these sirens are often used to warn of severe weather. When we had soft ball sized hail in areas near me 2 weeks prior to the tornado, the sirens went off then as well)
Since I was already at the computer, I decided to go ahead and check the weather channel.com to see what was up. It (siren) had been used liberally so far during storm season (for good reason mind you, but it hadn't affected me yet) so I almost didn't look, but thank God I did!! gonk
I pulled up Manhattan KS and all it said was: "A tornado has been sited in your area, seek shelter IMMEDIATELY!"
I grabbed my female rabbit Napolean out of the big cage (too big to carry down 2 flights stairs, as my puters on the second floor) and threw her into the tiny carrier thingie I have, put that on top of my male rabbit (Hobo) in the small cage, picked them both up together and hauled a** down 2 flights of stairs to the basement, calling the dog and cats with me.
The dog, my good boy, of course came, and I shut him down there with the bunnies, but my dumbass cats ran/hid from me, so even though it took like 1 min - 30seconds to get down there initially, it was more like 3 minutes total having to wrangle 2 cats also sweatdrop rolleyes . (Pray for me the little idiots learned their lesson!)
So, I had my cell phone on me, but that was just lucky. I hadn't put on PJs yet, and I think it was randomly still in my pocket! gonk (I have that in my head as something to grab now, and with hubby to wrangle cats, it should be much easier!)
I was really freaking out, so already I was panicked, and admittedly not thinking very clearly. I wanted to call someone, but kept thinking "it's 10:30pm, I don't want to wake them!" confused It finally dawned on me, if there's a tornado coming, maybe I should wake them!
So I called my neighbor Darlene. She was watching them track the tornado in the news. It started in a town called Chapman, and completely thrashed them. (They had 80% damage, 30% total loss, and one dead). Then it went north of a town called Junction City, passed around Ft. Riley somehow (the path makes no sense to me, so lets say "magic" ), passed Ogden, cut across the Manhattan airport's airfield, and came directly past my house to get into Manhattan!!! gonk
Let me back track now a little. Darlene told me it was expected at 10:56pm and to watch for a lot of thunderless ground lightening, because that meant it was coming. (not completely thunderless mind you, just more bolts then noise) She kept having to switch lines or call me back, seeing as all her friends and family are KS natives and were calling her non-stop to help her track the tornado.
She had left her TV on very loud so she could her it in the basement, but the power browned and it shut off and didn't come back on, so we were both totally reliant on her brother's info from his home (somewhere safely out of it's path) about the tornado.
I have a bathroom in the basement, and it's the only small, safe, truly windowless place, so I had both bunnies, both cats and the dog in there with me. (Since I had 15 minutes notice, I went back up stairs and got a bigger crate for Napoleon, and some PJs for me since I knew I wasn't leaving the basement again that night) I went out to try and see out the basement window for ground lightening, but realized it was a fruitless pursuit. I hadn't heard back from Darlene, but it hit like 10:55, so I went into the bathroom and crawled into the standing shower with my dog.
It hit pretty much right on time. There were 4 sirens that night, one for Chapman, One for JC/Ft.Riley, one for Ogden, and one for Manhattan. As the fourth siren was playing, it got drowned out by the sound of the tornado. I have no accurate description for this noise, but if you've ever heard it, you'll not soon forget it gonk . Some people say it sounds like a herd of frieght trains, but it still sounds like wind to me. Just wind so loud, it literally rattles your very bones! confused
As soon as I heard it I started freaking out really bad. I mean, hysterical tears and everything. (I'd heard one before, being in that little one in Germany, so I knew what it was...) I remember not seeing the cats (I think they hid under the toilet), I remember the dog whining hysterically and crawling all over me, and I even remember yelling "NO!" at the tornado (it didn't listen, just for the record O.o), but it's also kind of a blur. They go by very, very fast, but the fear makes it feel so much longer.
I sat there for God knows how long and bawled clutching my dog. After it'd passed, my cats came out from wherever they were and crawled all over me, just purring and purring. Looking back, the true 'all clear' animal sign though, was the rabbits acting normal again. Which didn't happen for a good hour or so afterwards. (they are my best storm alarms, but you have to really be paying attention, because what they do is curl up into a ball and close their eyes xp )
At some point, rather immediately after, Darlene called me. She wasn't much better off then me as far as hysterical panicking, still somewhat crying. She said "was that it, or was that just some hail?" I said "that was definitely IT" She informed me another tornado had been sighted in Abilene, and they thought it was headed this way, so stay in the basement.
I sat there (the power went out at the same time I first heard it coming) in the dark, in the basement bathroom, and just needed to contact people to feel less frightened, so I started texting totally random people I'd been in a tornado. I'm pretty sure I was even texting house phones and such O.O . (Kairi was in there, pretty sure xD) I texted my baby bro and my baby sister in there, both staying with my mom for the summer.
One of them must have told her, because she called me and says "Are you OK?????" then immediately "why didn't you text me?????" xp She then spent the next hour and a half on the phone with me trying to convince me there was no second tornado coming to steal my soul and ravage my body. (not kidding, I wouldn't even leave the bathroom for that long!)
It was around 1:30 when I came out of the bathroom, and let the animals out. I sort of layed on the bed down there for awhile in shock (I have a feather mattress, and foam pad laid out down there, for nights it's wise to spend in the basement, 2 of which happened before the actual tornado) It was around 2am the cops got to my door. They were going door to door in areas that'd been hit making sure everyone was alright and no one needed assistance or anything. There had already been looting in the neighborhood behind me (which was flattened gonk ), so they wanted to make sure everyone locked up and blocked broken windows and such.
I was really shocked to see how much debree was everywhere, even in the dark. The only damage I could see that night, was the cover over one of the basement windows was totally shredded by wooden boards. (from a newly remodeled home just down the street whose entire roof had blown off sweatdrop ). I dug up some flashlights and candles, and got some water, but ultimately, just went back to the basement and stayed there. (each upstairs trip was really quick and short)
Around 3 I layed back in the bed. I'm not sure if I really slept (didn't feel like it) or if I just lay there in a blank state, but next thing I knew it was 6:30 am.
I got up, fed the animals, got dressed for work (yes, I really thought I was going to work still at that point). By 7am, I went outside, to take pictures for my husband to see the damage (since the lucky b*****d was in California for all this rolleyes , That's TWO tornadoes he's missed! mad ). There was bits of drywall, insulation and roof tiles everywhere. Not to mention everything seemed to be mixed with broken glass. By 8am, I had a good catalog of pictures, and realized how much there was to do. So I called my boss at home and asked off to clean, he not only said okay, but offered the company truck for me to use if I needed! gonk
I spent the whole day from 8am until 6pm picking up debree and hauling it to the dumpster. I cleaned my whole parking area mostly alone (this sweet little old lady with a cane randomly helped me by using her butler to collect some of what i was sweeping 4laugh heart ), and of course cleaned my back yard and front stoop.
I have never seen that much broken glass in my life, TOTAL! burning_eyes It was everywhere, all kinds. Window glass, windshield glass, fancy decorative glass (like a chandelier would have)
I found a sock, some pills, parts of kids toys, paintings minus the frame or glass, a gutter (seriously, a whole gutter, all twisted and crumpled on the sidewalk O.O), but most disturbing of all were the pictures . I found a first birthday, a christening, a wedding, a very old picture (like great-grandfather old), and a fashion show. The oddest thing was, one of my nieghbors totally knew the people in the pictures! So I gave them to him and he's returning them where they belong.
I had to stop and bawl for awhile after finding the first birthday
The houses down the hill from me are destroyed, the houses behind the hill completely flattened, the business down the hill into town just trashed.
Little Apple Toyota was hit pretty hard. (last I heard, they were still missing 2 cars O.o;;, probably in the lake if you ask me. they found one in a random place on the KSU campus O.O) Cars were pancaked onto one another, the showroom windows got blown out, and a car was dropped thru the roof into the middle of the showroom. The storage units behind it were flattened. The brand new, just built, not even open yet Tru Value (hardware store) next to it was completely destroyed. Nothing left, totally flattened.
A couple of buildings (the wind tunnel/wind testing facility was one of them O.o) on Kansas State University (KSU) were really damaged, a sorority lost it's roof (not fraternity if you watch the vid), and Tuttle Creek Lake was trashed. That about sums up damage in my town.
For those of you who know these things, it was F4 when it passed by me, literally feet away O.O.
News release
This has several different news reports, and some youtube video links.
If you watch the 1st youtube video (tis 8 minutes long) The very first thing they show is the car dealership and the TruValue, literally just down the street from me!!! about 3:30 in they show some random drywall/insulation in crazy places, it was like that where I lived, then they show the flattened homes that are just behind where I live O.O. At the very end, like 7:30 in, the 'Honk if you've seen Toto' sign is just down from my house. You basically turn right there and go up the hill to where I live...
Anyways, like I said, I was incredibly lucky. Both to have almost 20 minutes warning, and to get away with only a few broken windows O.O;;
I pray to never be in one again! *knocks on wood* heart
Community Member
Teehee. Yep, I was one of them. 3nodding Scary s**t, to be texted that your granny is in a tornado. surprised heart heart