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Tornadoes in the Midwest
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansa...ews/5787616.htm
For those of you who don't live in the Midwest, please understand how incredibly scary these bastards are. This storm system started developing over our house, and then moved into north Kansas City where they leveled houses, threw cars hundreds of feet, snapped 3 ft. thick telephone lines like toothpicks, and ended up killing some 37 people nationwide:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WEATHER/05/...does/index.html
It honestly scared the crap out of me yesterday morning, hours before this all started. I had heard on the weather station that conditions were ripe for heavy thunderstorms and tornadoes. It sounded all too eerily familiar to the tornado that ripped through my hometown in Wichita, KS 1991:
http://www.usd.edu/honors/HWB/hwb_t/wichita.html
http://www.ku.edu/heritage/KSshow2/sld022.htm
That one in Wichita produced some of the most devastation I had ever witnessed. It came within 1 mile from my house (I live just north of McConnell Air Force Base), and destroyed 3 friends' houses as they were huddled in their basements. It also killed my first grade teacher. One buddy's house I will never forget as we were cleaning it up. His sister's teddy bear had penetrated through what remained of the stairwell, and there were blades of grass that needled through the only wall standing! Windspeeds had moved so fast that objects like these could kill.
Crack all the jokes you want about Dorothy and Toto. Honestly, I've heard them all from all parts of the U.S., especially from the ignorant U.S. citizens who don't even know where Kansas is (you idiots actually passed 1st grade geography?!?). I take no pride in what these forces of nature can do, because when they're up close and in your face, you will piss your pants with fear. They bring a lot of heartbreak and sorrow to a lot of people who's houses and dreams are gone, as well as their friends, families, and even pets. But I hope this is some interesting info. to those who never knew anything about tornadoes.
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Whence September dusk grows crisper still,
with leaves all crimson conquered,
I yearn to shout,
and dance about,
and stick pickles in my honker...
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